THE NEW ELDORADO 



A ! RIP TO ALASKA 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., Publishers, 
Boston and New York. 



THE NEW ELDORADO 



A SUMMER JOURNEY TO ALASKA 



BY 



MATURIN M. BALLOU 



■ BALLC 



I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry: " 'Tis 
all barren ! " and so it is, and so is all the world to him who will not Culti- 
vate the fruits it offers. — Sterne. 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

1889 



y 



Copyright, 1889, 
By MATUBJN M. BALLOU. 

All rights reserved. 



A 



6" 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., IT. S. A. 
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company. 



PREFACE. 



The Spaniards of old had a proverb signifying 
that he who would bring home the wealth of the 
Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with 
him. If we would benefit by travel we must take 
with us an ample store of appreciative intelli- 
gence. Nature, like lovely womanhood, only re- 
veals herself to him who humbly and diligently 
seeks her. As Sir Richard Steele said of a certain 
noble lady : " To love her is a liberal education." 
Keen observation is as necessary to the traveler 
who would improve by his vocation as are wings 
to an albatross. The trained and appreciative 
eye is like the object-glass of the photographic 
machine, nothing is so seemingly insignificant as 
to escape it. Careless, half -educated persons are 
sent upon their travels in order, it is said, that 
they may "learn." Such individuals had best 
first learn to travel. Those who improve the 
modern facilities for seeing the world acquire an 
inexhaustible wealth of information, and a delight- 
ful mental resort of which nothing can deprive 



iv PREFACE. 

them. The power of vision is thus enlarged, 
many occurrences which have heretofore proved 
daily mysteries become clear, prejudices are anni- 
hilated, and the judgment broadened. Above all, 
let us first become familiar with the important 
features of our own beautiful and widespread 
land before we seek foreign shores, especially as 
we have on this continent so much of unequaled 
grandeur and unique phenomena to satisfy and to 
attract us. It seems to the undersigned that 
perhaps this volume will have a tendency to lead 
the reader to such conclusion, and certainly this 

is its primary object. 

M, M. B. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 
Itinerary. — St. Paul. — The Northern Pacific Railroad. — 
Progress. — Luxurious Traveling. — Riding on a Locomo- 
tive. — Night Experiences. — Prairie Scenes. — Immense 
Grain-Fields. — The Badlands. — Climbing the Rocky 
Mountains. — Cinnabar. — The Yellowstone Park. — An 
Accumulation of Wonders. — The Famous Hot Springs 
Terrace. — How Formed. — As seen by Moonlight ... 1 

CHAPTER n. 

Nature in Poetic Moods. — Is there Lurking Danger ? — A 
Sanitarium. — The Liberty Cap. — The Giant's Thumb. — 
Singular Caves. — Falls of the Gardiner River. — In the 
Saddle. — Grand Canon of the Yellowstone. — Far-Reach- 
ing Antiquity. — Obsidian Cliffs. — A Road of Glass. — 
Beaver Lake. — Animal Builders. — Aborigines of the 
Park. — The Sheep-Eaters. — The Shoshones and other 
Tribes 20 



CHAPTER III. 

Norris Geyser Basin. — Fire beneath the Surface. — A Guide's 
Ideas. — The Curious Paint Pot Basin. — Lower Geyser 
Basin. — Boiling Springs of Many Colors. — Mountain 
Lions at Play. — Midway Geyser Basin. — " Hell's Half 
Acre." — In the Midst of Wonderland. — " Old Faithful." 
— Other Active Geysers. — Erratic Nature of these Re- 
markable Fountains 34 



vi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Great Yellowstone Lake. — Myriads of Birds. — Solitary- 
Beauty of the Lake. — The Flora of the Park. — Devas- 
tating Fires. — Wild Animals. — Grand Volcanic Centre. 

— Mountain Climbing and Wonderful Views. — A Story of 
Discovery. — Government Exploration of the Reservation. 

— Governor Washburn's Expedition. — "For the Benefit 

of the People at Large Forever " 47 

CHAPTER V. 

Westward Journey resumed. — Queen City of the Moun- 
tains. — Crossing the Rockies. — Butte City, the Great 
Mining Centre. — Montana. — The Red Men. — About the 
Aborigines. — The Cowboys of the West. — A Successful 
Hunter. — Emigrant Teams on the Prairies. — Immense 
Forests. — Puget Sound. — The Famous Stampede Tunnel. 

— Immigration 57 

CHAPTER VI. 

Mount Tacoma. — Terminus of the Northern Pacific Rail- 
road. — Great Inland Sea. — City of Tacoma and its Mar- 
velous Growth. — Coal Measures. — The Modoc Indians. 

— Embarking for Alaska. — The Rapidly Growing City of 
Seattle. — Tacoma with its Fifteen Glaciers. — Something 
about Port Townsend. — A Chance for Members of Alpine 
Clubs 73 

CHAPTER VII. 

Victoria, Vancouver's Island. — Esquimalt. — Chinamen. — 
Remarkable Flora. — Suburbs of the Town. — Native 
Tribes. — Cossacks of the Sea. — Manners and Customs. — 
The Early Discoverer. — Sailing in the Inland Sea. — Ex- 
cursionists. — Mount St. Elias. — Mount Fairweather. — 
A Mount Olympus. — Seymour Narrows. — Night on the 
Waters. — A Touch of the Pacific 84 



CONTENTS. vn 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Steamship Corona and her Passengers. — The New Eldo- 
rado. — The Greed for Gold. — Alaska the Synonym of 
Glacier Fields. — Vegetation of the Islands. — Aleutian 
Islands. — Attoo our most Westerly Possession. — Native 
Whalers. — Life on the Island of Attoo. — Unalaska. — 
Kodiak, former Capital of Russian America. — The Greek 
Church. — Whence the Natives originally came .... 109 

CHAPTER IX. 

Cook's Inlet. — Manufacture of Quass. — Native Piety- — 
Mummies. — The North Coast. — Geographical Position. 
— Shallowness of Behring Sea. — Alaskan Peninsula. — 
Size of Alaska. — A "Terra Incognita." — Reasons why 
Russia sold it to our Government. — The Price compara- 
tively Nothing. — Rental of the Seal Islands. — Mr. Sew- 
ard's Purchase turns out to be a Bonanza 127 



CHAPTER X. 

Territorial Acquisitions. — Population of Alaska. — Steady 
Commercial Growth. — Primeval Forests. — The Country 
teems with Animal Life. — A Mighty Reserve of Codfish. 
— Native Food. — Fur-Bearing Animals. — Islands of St. 
George and St. Paul. — Interesting Habits of the Fur- 
Seal. — The Breeding Season. — Their Natural Food. — 
Mammoth Size of the Bull Seals 143 



CHAPTER XI. 

Enormous Slaughter of Seals. — Manner of Killing. — Bat- 
tles between the Bulls. — A Mythical Island. — The Seal 
as Food. — The Sea-Otter. — A Rare and Valuable Fur. — 
The Baby Sea-Otter. — Great Breeding-Place of Birds. — 
Banks of the Yukon River. — Fur-Bearing Land Animals. 
Aggregate Value of the Trade. — Character of the Native 
Race 159 



viii CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Climate of Alaska. — Ample Grass for Domestic Cattle. — 
Winter and Summer Seasons. — The Japanese Current. — 
Temperature in the Interior. — The Eskimos. — Their 
Customs. — Their Homes. — These Arctic Regions once 
Tropical. — The Mississippi of Alaska. — Placer Mines. — 
The Natives. — Strong Inclination for Intoxicants . . .173 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Sailing Northward. — Chinese Labor. — Unexplored Islands. 
— The Alexander Archipelago. — Rich Virgin Soil. — Fish 
Canning. — Myriads of Salmon. — Native Villages. — 
Reckless Habits. — Awkward Fashions and their Origin. — 
Tattooing Young Girls. — Peculiar Effect of Inland Pas- 
sages. — Mountain Echoes. — Moonlight and Midnight on 
the Sea ... 186 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Alaskan's Habit of Gambling. — Extraordinary Domes- 
tic Carvings. — Silver Bracelets. — Prevailing Supersti- 
tions. — Disposal of the Dead. — The Native " Potlatch." 

— Cannibalism. — Ambitions of Preferment. — Human 
Sacrifices. — The Tribes slowly decreasing in Numbers. — 
Influence of the Women. — Witchcraft. — Fetich Worship. 

— The Native Canoes. — Eskimo Skin Boats 199 



CHAPTER XV. 

Still sailing Northward. — Multitudes of Water-Fowls. — 
Native Graveyards. — Curious Totem-Poles. — Tribal and 
Family Emblems. — Division of the Tribes. — Whence 
the Race came. — A Clew to their Origin. — The 
Northern Eskimos. — A Remarkable Museum of Aleutian 
Antiquities. — Jade Mountain. — The Art of Carving. — 
Long Days. — Aborigines of the Yukon Valley. — Their 
Customs 212 



CONTENTS. ix 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Fort Wrangel. — Plenty of Wild Game. — .Natives do not 
care for Soldiers, but have a Wholesome Fear of Gunboats. 

— Mode of Trading. — Girls' School and Home. — A 
Deadly Tragedy. — Native Jewelry and Carving. — No 
Totem-Poles for Sale. — Missionary Enterprises. — Prog- 
ress in Educating Natives. — Various Denominations en- 
gaged in the Missionary Work 222 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Schools in Alaska. — Natives Ambitious to learn. — Wild 
Flowers. — Native Grasses. — Boat Racing. — Avaricious 
Natives. — The Candle Fish. — Gold Mines Inland. — 
Chinese Gold-Diggers. — A Ledge of Garnets. — Belief in 
Omens. — More Schools required. — The Pestiferous Mos- 
quito. — Mosquitoes and Bears. — Alaskan Fjords. — The 
Patterson Glacier 231 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Norwegian Scenery. — Lonely Navigation. — The Marvels 
of Takou Inlet. — Hundreds of Icebergs. — Home of the 
Frost King. — More Gold Deposits. — Snowstorm among 
the Peaks. — Juneau the Metropolis of Alaska. — Auk and 
Takou Indians. — Manners and Customs. — Spartan Hab- 
its. — Disposal of Widows. — Duels. — Sacrificing Slaves. 

— Hideous Customs still prevail 246 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Aboriginal Dwellings. — Mastodons in Alaska. —Few Old 
People alive. — Abundance of Rain. — The Wonderful 
Tread well Gold Mine. — Largest Quartz Crushing Mill in 
the World. — Inexhaustible Riches. — Other Gold Mines. 

— The Great Davidson Glacier. — Pyramid Harbor. — 
Native Frauds. — The Chilcats. — Mammoth Bear. — Sal- 
mon Canneries 258 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Glacier Bay. — More Ice Bays. — Majestic Front of the Muir 
Glacier. — The Bombardment of the Glacier. — One of the 
Grandest Sights in the World. — A Moving River of Ice. 

— The Natives. — Abundance of Fish. — Native Cooking. 

— Wild Berries. — Hooniah Tribe. — Copper Mines. — An 
Iron Mountain. — Coal Mines 275 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Sailing Southward. — Sitka, Capital of Alaska. — Transfer of 
the Territory from Russia to America. — Site of the City. 
— The Old Castle. — Russian Habits. — A Haunted 
Chamber. — Russian Elegance and Hospitality. — The Old 
Greek Church. — Rainfall at Sitka. — The Japanese Cur- 
rent. — Abundance of Food. — Plenty of Vegetables. — A 
Fine Harbor 293 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Contrast between American and Russian Sitka. — A Prac- 
tical Missionary. — The Sitka Industrial School. — Gold 
Mines on the Island. — Environs of the Town. — Future 
Prosperity of the Country. — Hot Springs. — Native Re- 
ligious Ideas. — A Natural Taste for Music. — A Native 
Brass Band. — Final View of the Capital 304 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Return Voyage. — Prince of Wales Island. — Peculiar 
Effects. — Island and Ocean Voyages contrasted. — Laby- 
rinth of Verdant Islands. — Flora of the North. — Political 
Condition of Alaska. — Return to Victoria. — What Cloth- 
ing to wear on the Journey North. — City of Vancouver. 
— Scenes in British Columbia. — Through the Mountain 
Ranges 321 



CONTENTS. xi 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

In the Heart of the Rocky Mountains. — Struggle in a Thun- 
der-Storm. — Grand Scenery. — Snow-Capped Mountains 
and Glaciers. — Banff Hot Springs. — The Canadian Park. 
— Eastern Gate of the Rockies. — Calgary. — Natural 
Gas. — Cree and Blackfeet Indians. — Regina. — Farming 
on a Big Scale. — Port Arthur. — North Side of Lake 
Superior. — A Midsummer Night's Dream 338 



THE NEW ELDORADO. 



CHAPTER I. 

Itinerary. — St. Paul. — The Northern Pacific Railroad. — Pro- 
gress. — Luxurious Traveling. — Riding on a Locomotive. — 
Night Experiences. — Prairie Scenes. — Immense Grain-Fields. 
— The Badlands. — Climbing the Rocky Mountains. — Cin- 
nabar. — The Yellowstone Park. — An Accumulation of 
Wonders. — The Famous Hot Springs Terrace. — How 
Formed. — As Seen by Moonlight. 

A journey from Massachusetts to Alaska was 
a serious undertaking a few years ago. It in- 
volved great personal risk, considerable expense, 
and many long months of weary travel ; but it is 
now considered scarcely more than a holiday ex- 
cursion, a good share of which may be denomi- 
nated a marine picnic. That an important country, 
so easily accessible, should remain comparatively 
unexplored seems singular in the nineteenth cen- 
tury, especially when its great mineral wealth and 
natural attractions are freely admitted. The trip 
to Sitka, the capital of the Territory, and back 
is easily accomplished in three months, affording 
also ample time to visit the principal points of 
interest on the route, including the marvels of the 
Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming, which 



2 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

is not only not surpassed in grandeur and beauty 
by any scenery on the continent, but in fact has 
no parallel on the globe. The traveler also natu- 
rally pauses on his way to examine at least one of 
the great mining centres of this gold-producing 
country, such as Butte, the " Silver City " of 
Montana, where he may behold scenes eclipsing in 
affluence the fabulous story of Midas. The plan 
adopted by the author, as herein detailed, was to 
make the westward journey by the Northern Pa- 
cific Railroad to Tacoma, on Puget Sound, where 
the remarkable inland sea voyage begins, thence 
sailing north to Pyramid Harbor and Glacier Bay, 
stopping as usual at the intermediate places of 
interest. 

On the homeward passage, to vary the journey 
and to enjoy the wild scenery of British Colum- 
bia, Alberta, Assiniboia, and Manitoba, he left, 
the steamer at Vancouver, returning by the Cana- 
dian Pacific Railway, which presents to the lover 
of nature such famous scenic advantages. 

The journey westward seems practically to 
begin when the traveler reaches St. Paul, the 
capital of Minnesota, by way of Chicago, as here 
he strikes the trunk line of the Northern Pacific 
Railroad, which has an exclusive and unbroken 
track thence to Tacoma, a distance of nearly two 
thousand miles, the whole of which is covered 
with novelty and interest. 

We will not pause to fully describe St. Paul, 
that youthful city of marvelous growth, promise, 
and beauty, with her mammoth business edifices 



EXPANSION OF RAILROADS. 3 

of stone and brick, her palatial private residences, 
and her charming boulevards. The most casual 
visitor is eloquent upon these themes, as well as 
regarding the open-handed hospitality of her 
two hundred thousand inhabitants. Three iron 
bridges span the Mississippi at St. Paul, one of 
which is nearly three thousand feet long, sup- 
ported upon arches two hundred and fifty feet in 
span, and having a roadway elevated two hundred 
feet above the water. 

St. Paul is situated upon a series of terraces ris- 
ing from the left bank of the Mississippi River, 
its site being both commanding and picturesque. 
Thus built at the head of navigation on a great 
waterway, it naturally commands a trade of no 
circumscribed character, besides enjoying the pres- 
tige of being the State capital. 

Were it not for the unlimited facilities of trans- 
portation afforded by the grand and beneficent 
railroad enterprise embraced in the Northern Pa- 
cific system, the development of the vast and fer- 
tile country which lies between Lake Superior and 
the Pacific Ocean would have been delayed for 
half a century or more. It should be remembered 
that so late as 1850 there was not one mile of 
railroad in existence west of the Mississippi River. 
In 1836 there were, at most, but a thousand miles 
in operation on the entire American continent. 
This is an epoch of progress. Japan is traversed 
by railways, even China has caught the contagion, 
and is now building roads for the use of the iron 
horse in more than one direction within that an- 



4 TEE NEW ELDORADO. 

cient and widespread empire, while Russia and 
India are " gridironed " with rails. 

It was remarked in a congressional speech in 
the year 1847 that the Rocky Mountains would be 
the limit of railroad enterprise across our conti- 
nent ; that the barrier presented by these huge ele- 
vations and the extensive " desert tract " beyond 
them must certainly prevent the development of 
the Pacific States. 

" Desert," indeed ! 

No land on the globe produces such remarkable 
cereal crops as this very prairie soil is doing each 
successive year, not only supplying our own rapidly 
increasing population with the staff of life, but 
also feeding the less fortunate millions of Europe, 
where excessive labor and costly enrichment must 
make up the deficit arising from an exhausted soil 
and circumscribed area. The reader who follows 
these pages will not fail to see how liable legis- 
lators are to be mistaken in their predictions, and 
how apt events are to transcend the weak judg- 
ment of the confident and inexperienced declaimer. 
Even that Titan statesman, Daniel Webster, put 
himself on record in the United States Senate, 
while speaking against a proposition to establish 
a mail route through a portion of the western 
country, as follows : " What do we want with 
this vast, worthless area — this region of savages 
and wild beasts, of deserts of shifting sands and 
whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs ? 
To what use could we ever hope to put these great 
deserts or those endless mountain ranges, impene- 



EDEN OF THE NORTH PACIFIC. 5 

trable, and covered to their very base with eternal 
snow? What can we ever hope to do with the 
western coast, — a coast of three thousand miles, 
rock-bound, cheerless, uninviting, and not a har- 
bor on it ? What use have we for this country?" 

In crossing the continent by the route we have 
chosen, one passes through a country whose grand 
scenic charms can hardly be exaggerated, in de- 
scribing which superlatives only will apply, and 
whose agricultural advantages, natural resources, 
and mineral wealth are probably unequaled in 
the known world. We are taken through the 
productive wheat-fields of Minnesota and Dakota, 
among the gold and silver bearing hills of Idaho 
and Montana, into the prolific, garden-like valleys 
of Washington, whose lovely hopfields rival the 
gorgeous display of Kent in England, and whose 
abundant supply of coal and iron is only second to 
that of Pennsylvania. 

The State has been, and may well be, denomi- 
nated the Eden of the North Pacific. 

On our way we are constantly meeting immense 
freight trains, laden with grain, flour, cattle, and 
other merchandise, bound for the Atlantic coast ; 
long strings of coal cars, winding snake-like round 
sharp curves, and creeping up steep grades ; pas- 
senger vans crowded with animated, intelligent 
people, all together testifying to the great and 
growing traffic of the West and Northwest. We 
pass scores of lofty grain elevators, high piles of 
lumber, and miles of various kinds of merchandise 
prepared for, and awaiting, shipment eastward, 



6 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

all of which evinces a local capacity for produc- 
tion far beyond our computation. How mar- 
velous is the change from the conditions existing 
in this region a few years since, when millions of 
buffaloes roamed unmolested over these plains, 
valleys, and hills from Texas to Manitoba ! The 
skeletons of these herds still sprinkle the prairies, 
bleached by the summer sun and crumbled by the 
winter's frost. Hundreds of carloads are annually 
shipped eastward to the factories which manufac- 
ture fertilizers. 

As we speed on our western journey day and 
night, gliding through long tunnels and deep rock 
cuttings, over airy trestles, immense embankments, 
bridges, and viaducts, representing the skillful ac- 
complishments of modern engineering, we carry 
along with us the domestic conveniences of home. 
The train, in fact, becomes our hotel for the time 
being, where we bathe, eat, sleep, and enjoy the 
passing scenery seated in luxuriously upholstered 
easy-chairs, which at night are ingeniously trans- 
formed as if by magic into soft and inviting beds. 
The elegance and comfort of these parlor, dining, 
and sleeping cars is calculated to make traveling 
what it has in a measure become, an inviting lux- 
ury. The miraculous cap of Fortunatus would 
seem to have been pressed into our service. So 
thoroughly perfected is the transcontinental rail- 
road system that it is quite possible to enter the 
cars in an Atlantic city, say at Boston or New 
York, and not leave the train until five or six days 
have expired, when the objective point on the Pa- 
cific coast is reached. 



A NIGHT RIDE ON THE ENGINE. 7 

While passing through deep gorges at night, or 
creeping over a mountain top, the effect from one's 
seat in the cars is weird and curious, especially 
when the winding track makes long curves in the 
train, so that the panting iron horse is seen from 
the rear, all ablaze and emitting dense clouds of 
smoke. The snow-tipped peaks on one side and 
the threatening gulch of unknown depth on the 
other assume a mantle of soft, gauze-like texture 
in the clear moonlight. At times one half believes 
the rails are laid upon the tree-tops, the branches 
of which loom up so close to us. Away in the val- 
ley, two thousand feet and more below our level, 
a rippling stream sparkles in the silvery light 
while on its way to swell some larger watercourse 
which drains the rocky hills. Looking far across 
the valley we try to make out the distant moun- 
tains, but only dim phantoms of gigantic size are 
seen, gliding stealthily away in the darkness. 

We make interest with the conductor and en- 
gineer of the train for a special purpose. We are 
in search of a new sensation, to wit, such as may 
be derived from a night-ride on the engine, where 
one can see all the engineer sees, which is indeed 
little enough. The headlight of the locomotive 
throws its rays dimly on the darkness for a few 
rods in advance of the train. But what does that 
amount to, so far as being able to avoid danger ? 
That brief space is passed in a second of time, and 
it is impossible to see what is beyond. The faith- 
ful engineer stands with both hands upon the ma- 
chinery, one with which to instantly apply the 



8 TEE NEW ELDORADO. 

brakes, the other to shut off the steam if danger 
shows itself ahead. That is all he can do. What 
a boisterous, asthmatic monster it is that drags 
the long train through the darkness at the rate 
of a mile in two minutes ! How its hot breath 
belches forth, and how it springs and leaps over 
the iron track, fed incessantly with fresh fuel by 
the stoker ! To one not accustomed to the oscil- 
lating motion, it is nearly impossible to keep his 
footing, much more difficult than on board of a 
pitching or rolling ship at sea. The motion is 
short, quick, and incessant. Black, — black as 
Erebus ; how venturesome it seems to dash into 
such darkness! What a tempting of fate! Yet 
how few accidents, comparatively, occur ! " The 
law of averages is what we calculate upon," said 
the engineer of No. — ; " about so many people 
will be killed annually out of a given number of 
railroad travelers. We take all reasonable pre- 
cautions to prevent accidents, but there are thou- 
sands of exigencies beyond our control." If any 
one proposes to you, gentle reader, to indulge in a 
night-ride on a locomotive, take our advice, and 
don't do it. 

One does not linger in bed when passing 
through a county famous for its scenery. The 
experienced traveler has learned that the opening 
hours of the day are those in which his best and 
clearest impressions are received. He therefore 
rises betimes to enjoy the cool, dewy freshness of 
the morning. Now and again a prairie-owl is 
seen groping its winged way to shelter from the 



IMMENSE GRAIN-FIELDS. 9 

increasing light. He is sure to see plenty of coy- 
otes, gray wolves, and graceful antelopes on the 
rolling prairies, each of these animals exhibit- 
ing in some special and interesting manner its 
natural proclivities. The prairie-dog nervously 
diving into and leaping out of its little prairie 
mound ; the wolf bravely facing and glaring at 
the passing train, though careful to keep at a 
wholesome distance ; and the antelopes in small 
herds hastening away by graceful bounds over the 
nearest hills, far too pretty and far too ornamen- 
tal to shoot, suggesting in form and movements 
that most picturesque of wild animals, the Tyro- 
lean chamois. 

Minnesota presents to the eye of the traveler a 
grand and impressive country in the form of roll- 
ing prairies, diversified by lakes, — of which there 
are said to be ten thousand in the State, — forests, 
and inviting valleys, the latter particularly adapted 
for raising wheat and for dairy farming. Vast 
fields of ripening cereals are seen stretching for 
miles on either side of the railroad, without a 
fence to break their uniformity. This State pos- 
sesses among other advantages that of a climate 
particularly dry, invigorating, and healthful. Four 
hundred miles of our route is through Northern 
Dakota, where the farming lands are easily tilled, 
well watered, and wonderfully prolific in crops. 
The choicest wheat grown in America, known as 
hard spring wheat, comes from this section, which 
has been called " the granary of the world." The 
gigantic scale on which wheat-raising is here con- 



10 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

ducted would seem incredible if faithfully de- 
scribed to an old-time New England farmer. The 
improvement which has been made in machin- 
ery connected with sowing, reaping, harvesting, 
and threshing grain enables one man to do as 
much in this western country as a dozen men 
could accomplish twenty-five or thirty years ago. 
There are wheat farms here embracing twent} r 
thousand acres each, where economy in labor is of 
the utmost importance, and where the employees 
are so numerous as to be kept under semi-military 
organization. The author has seen the big grain- 
fields of Russian Poland in their prime, but they 
are as nothing when compared with those of 
Northern Dakota, nor are the farming facilities 
which are generally employed throughout Europe 
nearly equal to those of this country. 

At Bismarck, capital of the State, which is a 
small but energetic and thriving place, the Missouri 
River is crossed by a magnificent iron bridge, 
hung high in air, which cost a million dollars. 
This is the acme of euccessful engineering, pass- 
ing our long, heavy train of cars over a track of 
gleaming rails from shore to shore without the 
least perceptible tremor, or the deflection of a 
single inch. The great waterway which it spans 
measures at this place fully twent}< -eight hundred 
feet from bank to bank, though it is at this point 
two thousand miles from its confluence with the 
Mississippi. 

The route we are following soon takes us 
through what are called the Badlands, a most 



THE BADLANDS. 11 

singular region, where subterranean and surface 
fires are constantly burning, where trees have 
become petrified, and where the natural blue clay- 
has been converted into terra cotta. This local- 
ity, extending for miles and miles, has been called 
Pyramid Park, on account of its fantastic forms 
presented in a singular variety of colors, and be- 
cause of its mounds, domes, pyramids, and rocky 
towers. These vary as much in height as in form, 
some measuring ten feet, some two hundred, while 
all are clad in harlequin costume, black, white, 
blue, green, and yellow. It is called Badlands 
in contradistinction to the adjoining country, 
which is so very fertile, but the district is im- 
proved as good grazing ground for many thousands 
of cattle which supply our Atlantic cities with 
beef. Some of the best breeds of horses furnished 
to the Eastern States are raised, fed, and brought 
into marketable condition on these peculiar lands. 

This region forms a sort of tangible hint of 
what we shall experience still farther on our 
Wonderland journey in the interesting and un- 
equaled valley of the Yellowstone, where there 
are abundant evidences of volcanic force and sub- 
terranean fires, and where Nature is seen in her 
most erratic mood. 

Just as we pass from Dakota into Montana, a 
short distance beyond the Little Missouri River, 
a lofty peak called Sentinel Butte is seen, at an 
elevation of nearly three thousand feet above sea 
level. The teeming, vigorous young life of the 
Northwest is manifest all along the route, with 



12 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

its wonderful energy and its almost incredible 
rate of progress. We were told that in the State 
which we had just left three thousand miles of 
railroad had been built and properly equipped 
before it contained a single town of more than five 
hundred inhabitants. 

In the State of Montana we find a more hilly 
country than that through which we have so re- 
cently passed, yet it is well adapted to farming 
and possesses large areas of excellent grazing 
land. Indeed, there is scarcely any part of this 
territory, except the mountain ranges, where the 
climate is not sufficiently mild for cattle to win- 
ter out-of-doors. Undoubtedly they will thrive 
better for being housed at night in the coldest 
weather here or anywhere, but this is not abso- 
lutely necessary. No food is required for them 
except the native bunch grass, which cures itself, 
and stands as hay until the succeeding spring. 
Cattle are very fond of and will quickly fatten 
upon it. Sheep husbandry is also a great and 
growing interest here. We observe now and 
again a thrifty flock, tended by a boy-shepherd 
accompanied by his dog, recalling similar scenes 
in Tasmania and on the plains of Russia. 

Statistics show that there are over two million 
acres now under cultivation in Montana, and that 
the territory is also fabulously rich in minerals. 
The present output of gold, silver, and copper is 
at the rate of three million dollars per month, and 
the yield of the mines is steadily on the increase. 

As we hasten on our way, looking on one side 



CLIMBING THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 13 

far down into sombre depths, and on the other at 
threatening, overhanging bowlders, or backward 
at the road-bed cut out of the solid rock which 
forms the cliff, we wonder at the successful auda- 
city which conceived and built such a difficult 
highway. We have seen few instances of similar 
engineering so remarkable as is exhibited at cer- 
tain points on the Northern Pacific Railroad. 
Equal difficulties have been overcome on the Zig- 
zag Railway over the Blue Mountain Range, near 
Sidney, Australia, and also in Northern India, 
where the narrow gauge railroad climbs the foot- 
hills of the Himalayan Range to Darjeeling, 
about eight thousand feet above the plains of 
Hindostan, but in neither of these instances is 
the work so thorough, or on so gigantic a scale, 
as where the Northern Pacific crosses the Rocky 
Mountains. 

We are quite conscious of being on an up 
grade, the large engine panting audibly from its 
extra exertion, and the train moving forward 
no faster than one could walk. Presently tall, 
snow-capped peaks come trooping into view, like 
mounted Bedouins clad in fleecy white, as the 
small city of Livingston is reached. This locality 
is about forty-five hundred feet above the sea. 
The town is situated in a beautiful valley, with 
nothing to indicate its altitude except the snow- 
crowned mountains not far away, standing like 
frigid sentinels. The observant traveler will also 
notice a certain rarefied condition of the atmos- 
phere. Here we are about midway between the 



14 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Great Lakes and the Pacific coast, — between 
Superior, the largest lake on the globe, and the 
Pacific, the largest ocean in the world. 

Livingston contains three thousand inhabitants, 
and is a thriving place, the frequent resort of 
many lovers of the rod and gun, both large and 
small game being found in abundance hereabouts. 
Forty miles north of Livingston is Castle Moun- 
tain mining district, rich in silver ores, and from 
whose argentiferous soil millions of dollars have 
been coined and hundreds of enterprising pros- 
pectors enriched. A branch road is taken at this 
point which runs directly southward to Cinnabar, 
a distance of nearly fifty miles, from which place 
coaches convey the traveler about six miles far- 
ther to the Wonderland of our continent, — the 
Yellowstone National Park. 

The terminus of the railroad is known by the 
name of Cinnabar because it is situated at the base 
of a mountain bearing that title, remarkable for its 
exposure of vertical strata of three distinct geolog- 
ical periods. Here is a famous place known as the 
Devil's Slide, a singular formation caused by the 
washing out of a vertical stratum of soft material 
between one of quartzite and another of porpl^ry. 
The slide is two thousand feet high, and being of 
different color from the rest of the rocky mountain 
side is discernible for many miles away. 

We have now reached one of the most remark- 
able points of our excursion, which demands more 
than a passing notice, sharing with the great gla- 
ciers of Alaska the principal interest of the pres- 
ent journey westward across the continent. 



THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 15 

This magnificent territorial reservation is situ- 
ated in the northwestern part of Wyoming, em- 
bracing also a narrow strip of southern Montana 
and southeastern Idaho, lying in the very heart 
of the Rocky Mountains. It was wisely with- 
drawn from settlement by an act of Congress in 
1872, and is beneficently devoted forever to " the 
pleasure and enjoyment of the people." It forms 
a great preserve for wild animals, and a natural 
museum of marvels free to all. The well con- 
ceived liberality of this purpose is only commen- 
surate with the unequaled grandeur of the Park 
itself, though at the time of passing this law com- 
paratively little was actually known of the stu- 
pendous marvels contained within its widespread 
borders, besides which fresh discoveries of interest 
are still being made annually. 

Of all those who have endeavored to depict this 
locality, none have been able to convey with the 
pen an adequate idea of its wild magnificence, or 
to give a satisfactory description of its acccumu- 
lated wonders. The eye alone can appreciate its 
indescribable beauty, majesty, and loveliness. 

By the judicious expenditure of public money 
and the liberal outlay of corporate enterprise in 
road and bridge building, not to mention other fa- 
cilities, one can now pretty thoroughly explore the 
Park in the brief period of a week or ten days. 
To do this satisfactorily heretofore required thrice 
this length of time, besides which, camping out 
was necessary ; but it is no longer so, unless one 
chooses to play the gypsy. This plan is adopted 



16 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

by a few summer tourists, who take with them a 
regular camp outfit, depending upon the fish they 
catch for a considerable portion of their food sup- 
ply during this out-of-door life. 

The Park is under the control of the Secretary 
of the Interior. A local superintendent lives here, 
who is assisted by a few game-keepers and gov- 
ernment police, besides which there is a small gang 
of laborers constantly at work during the favora- 
ble season, building roads and bridges, opening 
vistas here and there, and clearing convenient foot- 
paths, under the direction of an army engineer. 
Two companies of United States cavalry make 
their headquarters in the Park during the summer 
months, distributed so as to prevent any unlawful 
acts of visitors. The size of the reservation is 
sixty-four miles in length by fifty-four in width, 
thus giving it an area of over three thousand six 
hundred square miles. Or, to convey perhaps a 
clearer idea of its extent to the reader's mind, it 
may be said to be nearly one half the size of the 
State of Massachusetts. It is a volcanic region 
of incessant activity, with mountains ranging from 
eight to twelve thousand feet in height, and 
embracing a collection of spouting geysers, hot 
springs, steam holes, petrified forests, cascades, ex- 
traordinary canons, and grand waterfalls, such as 
are unequaled in the known world. 

We do not forget the well-known geysers of Ice- 
land, or the Hot Lake district of New Zealand, 
with which the traveled visitor finds himself con- 
trasting the phenomena of the Yellowstone. 



THE HOT SPRINGS TERRACE. 17 

The writer of these pages happened lately to see 
an article upon our National Park, written by the 
Earl of Dunraven, in which that gentleman ques- 
tions whether the singular natural exhibitions here 
are not exceeded by those of New Zealand. We 
are familiar with both localities, and shall dismiss 
such a supposition simply by saying that the hot 
springs of the British colony referred to are no 
more to be compared with those of the Yellow- 
stone Park, than is an artificial Swiss cascade com- 
parable with Niagara. If Nature has anywhere 
else shown so wonderful a specimen of her handi- 
craft, it has not yet been our lot to see it. 

All the natural objects best worth visiting in 
the Park are now accessible by daily stages, which 
start at convenient hours from the hotel at Mam- 
moth Hot Springs, making the round of the inter- 
esting sights ; thus affording the general public 
every needed facility for examining the strangely 
attractive vicinity. 

Near the hotel is an area of two hundred acres 
and more, covered here and there with boiling, 
terrace-building springs, which burst out of slop- 
ing ground in ceaseless pulsations, at an elevation 
of about a thousand feet above the Gardiner River 
near by, into which the main portion of the chem- 
ically impregnated waters flow. Five hundred 
feet from the base of the springs the water be- 
comes cool, tasteless, and perfectly clear to the 
eye, as refreshing to drink as any water from the 
purest mountain rill. In ordinary quantities it 
has no evident medicinal effect, but is thought to 



18 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

be a wholesome tonic, with blood-purifying power. 
Some springs in the Park, though inviting in ap- 
pearance, are to be avoided on account of cer- 
tain objectionable medical properties which they 
possess. The hot springs adjacent to the hotel 
issue from many vents and at various elevations, 
slowly building for themselves terrace after ter- 
race with circular pools, held in singularly beauti- 
ful stalactite basins, formed by depositing in thin 
layers the chemical substances which they contain. 
Some are infused with the oxide of iron, and pro- 
duce a coating of delicately tinted red ; others are 
exquisitely shaded in yellow by an infusion of 
sulphur ; while some, from like causes, are of a 
dainty cream color. Upon numerous basins there 
are seen wavy, frill-like borders of bright green, 
indicating the presence of arsenic. Here and there 
the margins of the pools are scalloped and edged 
with a delicate bead-work, like Oriental pearls, 
while others are curiously honeycombed, and fret- 
ted with singular regularity. No artistic hand, 
however skillful, could equal Nature in these deli- 
cate and exquisitely developed forms. The grand 
terrace, viewed as a whole, is like a huge series 
of stairs or steps, two hundred feet high and five 
hundred broad, decked with variegated marble, 
together with white and pink coral. This im- 
mense calcareous formation might represent a 
frozen waterfall, or a congealed cascade. The 
water, in most instances, is at boiling heat as it 
pours out of the various openings, charged with 
iron, magnesia, sulphur, alumina, soda, and other 



THE PARK BY MOONLIGHT. 19 

substances. Every spring has its succession of 
limpid pools spreading out in all directions, the 
basins varying in size from ten to forty feet across 
their openings. When the sun penetrates the half 
enshrouding mist, and brings out the myriad col- 
ors of these beautiful terraces, the effect is truly 
charming ; it is as though a rainbow had been 
shattered and the pieces strewn broadcast. While 
thus wreathed in vapors, as the evening ap- 
proaches and the whole is touched by the rosy 
tints of the setting sun, the entire facade glows 
with softest opaline blushes, like a conscious mai- 
den challenged by ardent admiration. For a mo- 
ment, as we gaze upon its illumined expanse, it 
seems like a gorgeous marble ruin half consumed 
and still ablaze, the fire of which is being extin- 
guished by an avalanche of snow-clouds. Such a 
scene cannot be depicted by photography ; it can- 
not be represented faithfully by the artist's skillful 
touch in oils, because, like the vivid beauty of a 
sunset on the ocean, the light and shade are mo- 
mentarily changing, while the prismatic hues 
gently dissolve into each other's embrace. 

If possible, let the visitor witness the magic of 
the spot by moonlight. It is then fairy-like in- 
deed, shrouded in a thin, silvery screen, — " mys- 
terious veil of brightness made," — like the trans- 
parent yashmak of an East Indian houri. 



CHAPTER II. 

Nature in Poetic Moods. — Is there Lurking Danger ? — A Sani- 
tarium. — The Liberty Cap. — The Giant's Thumb. — Singu- 
lar Caves. — Falls of the Gardiner River. — In the Saddle. — 
Grand Canon of the Yellowstone. — Far-Reaching Antiquity. 
Obsidian Cliffs. — A Road of Glass. — Beaver Lake. — Ani- 
mal Builders. — Aborigines of the Park. — The Sheep-Eaters. 
— The Shoshones and other Tribes. 

How unapproachable is Nature in her poetic 
moods ! how opulent in measure ! how subtle in 
delicacy ! No structure of truest proportions 
reared by man could equal the beauty of this 
lovely, parti-colored terrace. It recalled — being 
of kindred charm — that perfection of Moham- 
medan architecture the Taj-Mahal at Agra, as 
seen under the deep blue sky and blazing sun of 
India. Since the late sweeping destruction by 
earthquake and volcanic outburst of the similarly 
formed pink and white terraces in the Hot Lake 
district of New Zealand, at Tarawera, these of 
the Yellowstone Park have no longer a known 
rival. We may therefore congratulate ourselves 
in possessing a natural formation which is both 
grand and unique. In the far-away southern 
country referred to, there were no more symp- 
toms foretelling the awful convulsion of nature 
which buried a broad, deep lake, together with an 
entire valley and native village, beneath lava and 



A SANITARIUM. 21 

volcanic ashes, than there is exhibited in our own 
reservation at this writing. What signifies it that 
the Yellowstone Park has probably remained in 
its present comparatively quiet condition for many, 
many ages ? The liability to a grand volcanic out- 
burst at any moment is none the less imminent. 
History repeats itself. It has ever been the same 
with all great throes of Nature. Centuries of 
comparative quiet elapse, and then occurs, with- 
out any obvious predisposing cause, a great and 
awful explosion. The catastrophe of Pompeii is 
familiar to us all, which, in its turn, repeated the 
story of Herculaneum. 

The Mammoth Hot Springs of the Yellowstone 
Park are not only beautiful in the tangible forms 
which they present, and the kaleidoscopic combi- 
nations of color which they produce, though their 
seeming crystal clearness is indescribable, but they 
have also remarkable medicinal virtues which en- 
hance their interest and practical value. It is on 
this account that the place is gradually becoming 
a popular sanitarium, drawing patients from long 
distances at suitable seasons, especially those who 
suffer from rheumatic affections and skin diseases. 
Persistent bathing in the waters accomplishes 
many remarkable cures, if current statements can 
be credited, and there is ample reason for such 
a result. The pure air of this altitude must also 
be of great benefit to invalids generally, but more 
especially to those suffering from malarial poison 
and nervous prostration. The chemical proper- 
ties of each spring are distinctive, most of them 



22 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Laving been carefully analyzed, and the invalid is 
thus enabled to choose the one which is presum- 
ably best adapted to his special ailment. 

Groups of pines, or single trees, find sufficient 
nutriment in the calcareous deposit to support 
life, and thus a certain barrenness is robbed of its 
depressing effect, while the whole is partially 
framed by densely wooded hills which serve to 
throw the terraces strongly into the foreground. 
When we last looked upon the scene the sun was 
setting amid a canop}^ of gold and orange hues, 
as the evening gun of the military encampment 
in the valley echoed again and again in sonorous 
tones among the everlasting hills, and died away 
in the distant gorges of the Yellowstone. 

A lady visitor who entered the Park at the 
same time with the author, on the first day of her 
arrival placed a pine cone in one of the springs 
near to the hotel. So rapid is the action of the 
mineral deposit which is constantly going on that 
at the close of the eighth day the cone was taken 
from the spring crystallized, as it were, being en- 
crusted with a silicious deposit nearly the sixteenth 
of an inch in thickness. Branches of fern, acorns, 
and other objects are treated in a similar manner, 
often producing very charming and peculiar orna- 
ments which serve as pleasing souvenirs of the 
traveler's visit. 

In sight of the hotel piazza there is a curious 
and interesting object, built up by a spouting 
spring long since extinct, and which has been 
named the Liberty Cap. It is a little on one side 



THE GIANTS THUMB. 23 

but yet in front of the terraces, and appears to be 
composed entirely of carbonate of lime. With a 
diameter of about fifteen feet at the base, it grad- 
ually tapers to its apex forty feet from the ground. 
This prominent formation, though remarkable, is 
yet no mystery. It was produced by the waters 
of a spring, probably forced up by hydrostatic 
pressure, overflowing and precipitating its sedi- 
ment around the vent, until finally, the cause ceas- 
ing, the pressure become exhausted and the cone 
was thus formed. It may have required ages of 
activity in the spring thus to erect its own mauso- 
leum, — no one can safely conjecture how long. 
Still nearer to the terraces is a similar formation 
called the Giant's Thumb. Both are slowly be- 
coming disintegrated by atmospheric influences ; 
we say slowly, since they may still exist, slightly 
diminished in size, a hundred years hence. There 
is manifestly a tendency in the springs which are 
now active in other parts of the neighborhood to 
build just such tall cylinders of sinter about their 
vents. Some of the partially formed cones in the 
vicinity are perfect, as far as they have accumu- 
lated, while others present a broken appearance, 
as if shattered by a sudden explosion. 

There are several eaves in the neighborhood of 
the terraces daintily ornamented with stalactites 
of snowy whiteness, where springs which have 
long since become exhausted were once as active 
as those which now render this place so interest- 
ing. From one of these caves there issues a pe- 
culiar gas, believed to be fatal to animal life. A 



24 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

bird, it is said, flying across the entrance close 
enough to inhale the vapor will drop lifeless to 
the ground. We are not prepared to vouch for 
this, — indeed we very much doubt the guide's 
story, — but it naturally recalled the Grotto del 
Cane, near Naples, where it will be remembered 
the guides are only too ready to sacrifice a dog for 
such visitors as are cruel enough to permit it, by 
causing the animal to inhale the poisonous gas 
which settles to the lower part of the cave so 
named. 

There is another cave not far from the hotel 
very seldom resorted to, and which appears to 
have once been the operating sphere of a large 
geyser, but which is now only a dark hole. Into 
this one descends by a ladder. It is a weird, 
uncanny place, requiring torches in order to see 
after entering its precincts. Aroused by the arti- 
ficial light, myriads of bats drop from the ceiling, 
until the place seems alive with them. Now and 
then in their gyrations one touches the visitor's 
hand or cheek with its cold, damp body, causing 
an involuntary shudder. Verily, the Bats' Cave 
is not an inviting place to visit. 

One of the first places which the stranger seeks 
after enjoying the attractions of the terraces and 
a few curiosities near to the hotel is the Middle 
Falls of the Gardiner River, situated three or 
four miles away in a southerly direction. Here 
we look down into a broad, dark canon consider- 
ably over a thousand feet deep, and whose rough, 
precipitous sides are nearly five hundred feet 



THE GRAND CANON. 25 

apart at the summit, gradually narrowing towards 
the bottom. The Gardiner River flows through 
the gorge, having at one place an unbroken fall of 
a hundred feet ; also presenting a mad, roaring, 
rushing series of cascades of three hundred feet 
descent. The aspect and general characteristics 
of this turmoil of waters recalled the famous 
Falls of Trolhatta, in Sweden. The hoarse 
music of the waters, rising through the branches 
of the pines which line the gorge, pierce the ear 
with a thrilling cadence all their own, while the 
dark canon stretches away for many miles in 
its wild and sombre grandeur. It is well to visit 
this spot before going to greater distances from 
the hotel. Impressive as it is sure to prove, 
there is yet a much superior feature of the Park, 
of similar character, which remains to be seen. 
We refer to the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone 
River, where an immense cataract is formed by 
the surging waters near the head of the gorge, 
which here narrows to about one hundred feet. 
The volume of water is very great at the point 
where it rushes over a ledge nearly four hundred 
feet in height, at one bold leap. This is known 
as the Lower Fall, there being another half a mile 
above it, called the Upper Fall, which is one hun- 
dred and fifty feet high. These falls are more pic- 
turesque, but less grand than the Lower. They 
are presented to our view higher up among the 
green trees, where lovely wild flowers and wav- 
ing ferns cling to the rocks, and under the inspir- 
ing rays of the sunlight add to their brightness 



26 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

and crystal beauty. A waterfall, like an oil- 
painting, may be hung in a good or a disadvan- 
tageous position as to light, and both are largely 
dependent upon this contingency for their inspir- 
ing charm. 

The Great or Lower Fall of the Yellowstone 
Canon is twice as high as Niagara, while the beau- 
tiful blazonry on the walls of the deep gorge, like 
some huge mosaic, all aglow with matchless color, 
marvelous in opulence, adds a fascinating charm 
unknown to the mammoth fall just named. 
These varied hues have been produced by the 
snow and frost, vapor and sunshine, the lightning 
and the rain of ages, acting upon certain chemical 
constituents of the native rock. This is said to 
be the most wonderful mountain gorge, when all 
of its belongings are taken into consideration, yet 
discovered. It is over twenty miles long, and is 
in many places from twelve to fifteen hundred 
feet deep. The author has visited the imposing 
canons of Colorado, the thrilling gorges of the Yo- 
semite, and some of still greater magnitude in the 
Himalayan range of northern India, but never 
has he seen the equal of this Grand Canon of the 
Yellowstone, or beheld so high a waterfall of 
equal volume. 

A safe platform has been erected at the edge 
of the fall, where one can stand and witness its 
amazing plunge of over three hundred and fifty 
feet. The stranger instinctively holds his breath 
while watching the irresistible volume of water as 
it advances, and follows it with the eye into the 



VIEW FROM INSPIRATION POINT. 27 

profound depth of the canon. The best view of the 
gorge, however, is that obtained from Lookout 
Point, situated about a mile south of the Lower 
Fall. A half mile farther in the same direction, 
and at the same elevation, lies Inspiration Point, 
from whence a more comprehensive outlook may 
be enjoyed. The grouping of crags, pinnacles, 
and inaccessible points is grand and inexpress- 
ibly beautiful. Eagles' nests with their young are 
visible at eyries quite out of reach, save to the 
monarch bird itself. On other isolated points, far 
below us, are seen the nests of fish-hawks, whose 
builders look like swallows in size as they float 
upon the air, or dart for their prey into the swift, 
tumultuous stream that threads the valley. Gaz- 
ing upon the scene, the vastness of which is be- 
wildering, a sense of reverence creeps over us, 
— reverence for that Almighty hand whose power 
is here recorded in such unequaled splendor. At 
last it is a relief to turn away from looking into 
the sheer depth and reach a securer basis for the 
feet. Still we linger until the sunset shadows 
lengthen and pass away, followed by the silvery 
moonlight. Every hour of the day has its peculiar 
charm of light and shade as seen upon the canon 
and its churning waters. 

The excursion out and back from the hotel to 
view the principal points of interest in the neigh- 
borhood covers a distance of about seven miles 
through the woods and along the threatening brink 
of the gorge. A rude Indian trail affords the only 
means of reaching the several outlooks. Saddle- 



28 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

horses are supplied for the excursion by the hotel 
proprietor, and visitors generally avail themselves 
of this mode of transportation. The horses em- 
ployed for the service are remarkably sagacious 
and sure-footed. Understanding exactly what is 
required of them, they overcome the deep pitches 
and abrupt rises of the narrow, tortuous way with 
great ingenuity and caution. At times one is 
borne so near the brink of the awful chasm as to 
make the passage rather exciting. It must be ad- 
mitted that a single misstep on the part of the ani- 
mal which bears him would hurl horse and rider 
two thousand feet down the canon to instant de- 
struction. There is no barrier between the cliff 
and the few inches of earth forming the path. 
Visitors are cautioned at starting to give the 
horses their heads, and not attempt to guide them 
as they would do under ordinary circumstances. 
The intelligent animals fully comprehend the exi- 
gencies of the situation. On the occasion of the 
writer's visit the equestrian party consisted of nine 
persons, including the guide; of these, two ladies 
and one gentleman abandoned the saddles after the 
first mile, finding the seeming danger too much 
for their nerves, and completed the long tramp on 
foot. 

" What wonderful majesty and beauty are hid- 
den here from an unconscious world," said an ex- 
perienced member of our little party whom chance 
had brought together at the brink of the gorge. 
u Everybody visits Niagara," he continued, " but 
few, comparatively, participate in the glory and 



A GLASS ROAD. 29 

loveliness of this place, and yet how superior in 
attraction it is to those lines of summer travel, the 
Natural Bridge of Virginia, the Mammoth Cave 
of Kentucky, or even the justly famed Yosemite 
Valley ; " — a sentiment which all heartily indorsed. 

In these pages we pass rapidly from one great 
attraction to another, because we have only a 
limited space in which to speak of them, but the 
intelligent and appreciative visitor will be more 
leisurely in his examination. Hours may be prof- 
itably occupied in the careful observation and 
thorough enjo} 7 ment of each locality, the interest 
growing by what it feeds upon. One hardly real- 
izes the passage of time when occupied in the 
contemplation of such strange and absorbing ob- 
jects, and is apt to linger thoughtfully until he 
is warned by the business-like suggestion of the 
guide. 

Another interesting spot which, the stranger 
will hasten to visit is the Obsidian Cliffs, situated 
about a dozen miles from the hotel. These sin- 
gular and, so far as we know, unique cliffs are 
formed of volcanic glass, and measure a thousand 
feet in length by nearly two hundred in height, 
recalling in general effect the Giant's Causeway 
in the north of Ireland. They rise in almost 
vertical columns from the eastern shore of Beaver 
Lake. The color of the glass is dark green, like 
that of which cheap quart bottles are made, and 
though the glass glistens like jet it is opaque. A 
carriage road has been provided, — a glass road, 
— a quarter of a mile long, running by the base 



30 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

of the cliffs. To construct this road large fires 
were built upon the obsidian mass, which, when 
thoroughly heated, was dashed with cold water, 
causing it to crack and crumble to pieces. It was 
a tedious undertaking, but an available roadway 
was at last the result. 

Close at hand is Beaver Lake, of artificial ori- 
gin, having been created by the industrious ani- 
mal after which it is named. A colony have here 
built a series of thirty dams, thus forming a sheet 
of water of considerable depth, half a mile in 
width, and two miles long, framed by tall, straight 
pines, and covered near the shore with aquatic 
flowers. As we passed the lake, in its shady cor- 
ners were seen flocks of ducks in gaudy colors 
and of many different species, while on the far side 
representatives of the beaver tribe were kind 
enough to exhibit themselves for our amusement. 
The series of dams which these little creatures 
have constructed hereabouts have falls of from 
three to six feet each, extending for a distance of 
nearly two miles. The lily plants which bordered 
Beaver Lake were of a curious amber color, grow- 
ing here and there in groups of great density. 
At a snap of the driver's whip a bevy of wild 
ducks rose, but lazily settled again upon the water 
close at hand. " They have read the printed reg- 
ulations of the Park," said the driver, " and know 
that no one will attempt to shoot them." Beyond 
the lake are broad patches of level meads, sprin- 
kled with lovely wild flowers, in which yellow, 
purple, and white prevailed. The delicate little 



THE ABORIGINES. 31 

phlox, modestly clinging to the ground, was fra- 
grant above all the rest. Occasional spots border- 
ing the pine woods showed the exquisite enamel of 
the blue violets, which emitted their familiar and 
welcome fragrance. These were dominated by a 
tall, regal flower, clustering on one stem, whose 
name we know not, but which formed great masses 
of purple bloom. 

Close to the curious and interesting Obsidian 
Cliffs is a pleasant resort called Willow Park, a 
cool, shady spot, where a clear stream of good 
water flows through a stretch of rich pasture land, 
forming a delightful rural picture, full of peaceful 
and poetic suggestiveness. This is a favorite 
camping ground for those who adopt that mode of 
visiting the several sections of the Park. 

The stranger looks about him in silent amaze- 
ment, wondering how long Nature has been dis- 
playing her erratic moods after the fashion exhib- 
ited here, now smiling with winning tenderness, 
and now frowning with implacable sternness. He 
sees everywhere evidences of great antiquity, and 
beholds objects which must date from time incal- 
culably remote, but there is no recorded history 
extant of this strange region. The original Indian 
inhabitants of the Park were a very peculiar peo- 
ple, — a sort of gnome race, — a tribe individually 
of Liliputian size, who lived in natural caves, of 
which there are many in the hills, where rude and 
primitive implements of domestic use belonging to 
the aborigines have been found. They do not 
seem to have possessed even the customary leg- 



32 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

ends of savage races concerning their surroundings 
and their origin. This tribe, the former dwellers 
here, were called the Sheep-eating Indians, be- 
cause they lived almost solely upon the flesh, and 
clothed themselves in the skins, of the big-horn 
sheep of these mountains, — an animal which is 
found running wild in more or less abundance 
throughout the whole northern range of the Rocky 
Mountains, even where it reaches into Alaska. 
These natives are represented to have been a timid 
and harmless people, without iron tools or weap- 
ons of any sort, except bows and arrows, to which 
may be added hatchets and knives formed of the 
flint-like volcanic glass indigenous to the Park. 
They were an isolated people from the very na- 
ture of their country, which was nearly inaccessible 
at all seasons, and entirely so during the long and 
severe winters. 

Other native tribes were debarred from this 
region through superstitious fear, induced by the 
incomprehensible demonstrations of Nature ex- 
hibited in boiling springs, spouting geysers, and 
the trembling earth, accompanied by subterranean 
explosions. This seemed to them to be evidence 
of the wrath of the Great Spirit, angered, perhaps, 
by their unwelcome presence. The Sheep-eaters, 
born among these scenes, gave no special heed to 
them, and rather fostered an idea which prevented 
others from interfering with the surrounding 
game, and which also gave them immunity from 
the otherwise inevitable oppression of a stronger 
and more aggressive people than themselves. As 



INDIAN IMPROVIDENCE. 33 

civilization advanced westward, or rather as the 
white man found his way thither, this Yellowstone 
tribe gradually dwindled away or became united 
with the Shoshones of Iowa. Their individuality 
seems now to have been entirely lost, not a trace 
of them, even, being discernible, according to 
more than one intelligent writer upon the sub- 
ject. 

No Indians of any tribe are now permitted in 
the reservation, otherwise, lazy as these aborigines 
are, they would soon make reckless havoc among 
the fine collection of wild animals which is gath- 
ered here. The Indians are all in the annual 
receipt of money and ample food supplies from 
the government ; and the killing of extra game 
and selling the hides would furnish them with 
only so many more dollars to be expended for 
whiskey and tobacco. These tribes have no idea 
of economy, or care for the future. The reliance 
they place upon government supplies promotes a 
spirit of recklessness and extravagance. If their 
potato crop fails, or partial famine sets in from 
some extraordinary cause, it finds them utterly 
unprepared to meet the exigency. Oftentimes it 
is found that the government rations and supplies 
have been sold, and the money received therefor 
lavishly squandered. 



CHAPTER III. 

Norris Geyser Basin. — Fire beneath the Surface. — A Guide's 
Ideas. — The Curious Paint Pot Basin. — Lower Geyser 
Basin. — Boiling Springs of Many Colors. — Mountain Lions 
at Play. — Midway Geyser Basin. — "Hell's Half Acre." — 
In the Midst of Wonderland. — " Old Faithful."— Other Active 
Geysers. — Erratic Nature of these Remarkable Fountains. 

A pleasant drive of twenty miles in a south- 
erly direction from the Hot Springs Hotel, through 
the wildest sort of scenery, over mountain roads 
and beside gorgeous canons, will take the vis- 
itor to the Norris Geyser Basin, a spot which 
promptly recalled to the writer somewhat similar 
scenes witnessed at the aboriginal town of Ohine- 
mutu, in the northern part of New Zealand. 
Clouds of sulphurous vapor constantly hang alike 
over both places, produced by a similar cause, 
though the scene here is far more vivid and de- 
monstrative. This whole basin is dotted by hot 
water springs and fumaroles, which maintain an 
incessant hissing, spluttering, and bubbling, night 
and day, through the twelve months of the year. 
The water which issues from these sources is of 
various colors, according to the impregnating prin- 
ciple which prevails, the yellow sulphur vats being 
especially conspicuous to the sight and offensive to 
the smell. What a strange, weird place it is ! No 



A GUIDE'S IDEAS. 35 

art could successfully imitate these extravagances 
of Nature. Some of the rills are cool, others are 
boiling hot; some are white, some pink or red, 
and one large basin, fifty feet across, is called the 
Emerald Pool, because of its intensely green color ; 
yet it appears to be quite pure and transparent 
when a sample is taken out and examined. Each 
spring seems to be entirely independent of the 
rest, though all are situated so near to each other. 
An almost constant tremor of the earth is realized 
throughout this immediate region, as though only 
a thin crust separated the visitor from an active 
volcano beneath his feet ; and, notwithstanding the 
various scientific theories, who can say that such 
is not actually the case? 

" I know all about the idea that these eruptions 
of boiling water, steam, and sulphurous gases are 
produced by chemical action," said our guide. 
" I 've heard lots of scientific men talk about the 
subject, but I don't believe nothing of the sort." 

" And why not ? " we asked. 

"Do you believe," he said, " that chemical ac- 
tion in the earth could create power enough, first 
to bring water to 212° of heat, and then force it two 
hundred feet into the air a number of times every 
day in a column four or five feet in diameter, and 
keep it up for quarter of an hour at a time?" 

" Well, it does seem somewhat problematical," 
we were forced to answer. 

" After living here summer and winter for six 
years," he said, " I have seen enough to satisfy 
me that there is a great sulphurous fire far down 



36 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

in the earth below us, which, if the steam and 
power it acccurnulates did not find vent through 
the hundreds of surface outlets distributed all over 
the Park, would seek one by a grand volcanic 
outburst." 

"Put your hand on the ground just here," he 
continued, as we walked over a certain spot where 
our footfall caused a reverberation and trembling 
of the soil. 

" It is almost too hot for the flesh to bear," we 
said, quickly withdrawing our hand. 

" Too hot ! I should say so. Now I don't be- 
lieve anything but a burning fire can produce such 
heat as that," he added, with an expression of the 
face which seemed to imply, " I don't believe } 7 ou 
do either." 

" The original volcanic condition of this whole 
region seems also to argue in favor of your deduc- 
tions," we replied. 

"That's just what I tell 'em," continued the 
guide. " Them big fires that first did the business 
for this neighborhood are still smouldering down 
below. You may bet your life on that." 

This rather startling idea is emphasized by a 
smoking vent close at hand, which is also con- 
stantly sending forth superheated steam and sul- 
phurous gases, like the extinct volcano of Solfatara, 
near Naples. Sulphur crystals strew the ground, 
and are heaped up in small yellow mounds. Not 
far away an intermittent geyser bursts forth every 
sixty seconds from a deep hole in the rock-bed of 
the basin, showing a stream of water six inches in 



GIBBON PAINT POT BASIN. 37 

diameter, and sending the same skyward thirty or 
forty feet. Here also is a powerful geyser called 
the Monarch, which leaps into action with great 
regularity once in twenty-four hours, throwing a 
triple stream to the height of a hundred and thirty 
feet, and continuing to do so for the space of fif- 
teen or twenty minutes. Beneath the sun's rays 
all the colors of the prism are reflected in this ver- 
tical column of water, and not infrequently the 
distinct arch of a rainbow is suspended like a halo 
about its crown. Nature, even in her most fantas- 
tic caprice, is always beautiful. 

There are several other high-reaching and pow- 
erful geysei*s in this vicinity, but we will not 
weary the reader by pausing to describe them. 

Gibbon Paint Pot Basin is next visited, being a 
most curious area, measuring some twenty acres, 
more or less, situated in a heavily-wooded district, 
not far from Gibbon Canon. Here is a most 
strange collection of over five hundred springs of 
boiling, splashing, exploding mud, exhibiting many 
distinct colors, which gives rise to the name it 
bears. One pot is of an emerald green, another is 
as blue as turquoise, a third is as red as blood, a 
fourth is of orange yellow, another is of a rich 
cream color and consistency. The visitor is struck 
by the singularity of this hot-spring system, which 
produces from vents so close together colors dia- 
metrically opposite. The earth is piled up about 
the seething pools, making small mounds all over 
the basin, and forming a series of pots of clay and 
silicions compounds. Near the entrance of Gibbon 



38 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Canon is a remarkable collection of extinct gey- 
sers ; the tall, slim, crystallized structures, originat- 
ing like the Liberty Cap already described, look 
like genii totem poles, corrugated by the finger of 
time, and forming significant monuments of by- 
gone eruptions, while the surrounding volcanoes 
were slowly exhausting their fury. Even about 
these long-extinct geysers there is an atmosphere 
indicating their former intensity, though it is quite 
possible they may have been sleeping for ten cen- 
turies. 

The locality known as the Lower Geyser Basin is 
filled with striking and somewhat similar volcanic 
exhibitions, though there are more hot springs 
here than other phenomena, the aggregate number 
being a trifle less than seven hundred, including 
seventeen active geysers. In some respects this spot 
exceeds in interest those previously visited, being 
more readily surveyed as a whole. The variety 
of form and the large number of these springs 
are remarkable. As a rule they are less sulphurous 
and more silicious than those already spoken of. 
Here, as at the terraces near the hotel, the last 
touch of beauty is imparted by the sun's rays 
forcing themselves through the white vapory 
clouds which are thrown off by the mysteriously 
heated waters. One of the large basins, meas- 
uring forty by sixty feet, is filled with a sort of 
porcelain slime, notable for its soft rose tints and 
delicate yellow hues, which are brought out with 
magic effect under a cloudless sky. This basin 
has an elevation of over seven thousand feet above 



MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN. 39 

the level of the sea, and is surrounded by heavily- 
timbered hills which are four and five hundred 
feet higher. Numerous as these springs and gey- 
sers are, each one is strongly individualized by 
some special feature which marks it as distinctive 
from the rest, and renders it recognizable by the 
residents of the Park, but which, however inter- 
esting to the observing visitor, would only prove 
to be tedious if here described in detail. 

While sitting at twilight on the piazza of the 
rude little inn where we passed the night in this 
basin, there came out from the edge of the wood 
on to a broad green plateau a couple of long tailed 
mountain lions. They were not quite full grown, 
and were of a tawny color. These creatures, 
savage and dangerous enough under some circum- 
stances, seemed half tame and entirely fearless, 
playfully romping with each other, and exhibiting 
catlike agility. The proprietor of the inn told 
us that not long since, upon a dark night, they 
came to the house and attacked his favorite dog, 
killing and eating him, leaving only the bones to 
explain his disappearance in the morning. They, 
too, must have read the regulations, " No firearms 
permitted in the Park." 

The Midway Geyser Basin is situated a few 
miles directly south of that just spoken of, and 
contains an extraordinary group of hot springs, 
among which is the marvelous Excelsior Geyser, 
largest in the known world. It bursts forth from 
a pit two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, worn 
in the solid rock, and which is at all times nearly 



40 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

full of boiling water, above which there is con- 
stantly floating a dense column of steam, which 
rising slowly is borne away and absorbed by the 
atmosphere. The water which flows so continu- 
ously over the brim has formed a series of terraces 
beaming with beautiful tints. This stupendous 
fountain is intermittent, giving an exhibition of 
its startling powers at very irregular periods, when 
it is said to send up a column of water sixty feet 
in diameter to a height of from fifty to one hun- 
dred feet! So great is the sudden flood thus pro- 
duced in the Firehole River, which is here between 
seventy -five and a hundred yards broad, that it is 
turned for the time being into a furious torrent of 
steaming, half-boiling water. The Excelsior has 
also a disagreeable and dangerous habit of throw- 
ing up hundred-pound stones and metallic debris 
with this great volume of water, while the sur- 
rounding earth vibrates in sympathy with the 
hidden power which operates so mysteriously. 
Visitors naturally hasten to a safe distance during 
these moments of extraordinary activity. 

About midway between Firehole and the Upper 
Geyser Basin is a strange, unearthly, vaporous 
piece of low land, which is endowed with a name 
more expressive than elegant, being called "Hell's 
Half Acre." Here again it seems as if this spot 
is separated from the raging fires below by only 
the thinnest crust of earth, through which numer- 
ous boiling springs find riotous vent. The soil 
in many parts is burning hot, and echoes to the 
tread as though liable to open at any moment and 



HELL'S HALF ACRE. 41 

swallow the venturesome stranger. During the 
season of 1888, a lady visitor who stepped upon a 
thin place sank nearly out of sight, and though in- 
stantly rescued by her friends, she was so severely 
scalded as to be confined to her bed for a month 
and more at the Mammoth Springs Hotel. The 
air is filled with fumes of sulphur, and the place 
would seem to be appropriately named. There 
are forty springs in this " Half Acre," which, by 
the way, occupies ten times the space which the 
name indicates, where the seething and bubbling 
noise is like the agonized wailing of lost spirits. 
The place has another, and perhaps better, desig- 
nation besides this satanic title, namely, Egeria 
Springs. Great is the contrast between the heav- 
ens above and the direful suggestions of the earth 
below, as we behold it under the serene beauty of 
the blue sky which prevails here in the summer 
months, and which renders camping out in the 
Park delightful. " You should come here during 
a thunder-storm," said our companion, who is a 
dweller in this region. " I have done so twice," 
he continued, " simply to witness the fitness of the 
association: rolling thunder overhead and flashes 
of lightning in the atmosphere, through which the 
boiling vats, hissing pools, and steaming fissures 
are seen in full operation, as though they were a 
part and parcel of the eleetric turmoil agitating 
the sky." 

It is impossible to appreciate these various phe- 
nomena in a single hurried visit. Like the Falls 
of Niagara, or the Pyramids of Gizeh, they must 



42 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

become in some degree familiar to the observer 
before he will be able to form a complete, intelli- 
gent, and satisfactory impression which will re- 
main with him. One cannot grasp the full sig- 
nificance of such accumulated wonders at sight. 
We look about us among the green trees that bor- 
der the open areas, surprised to behold the calm 
sunshine, the tuneful birds, and the chattering 
squirrels, moved by their normal instincts, utterly 
regardless of these myriad surrounding marvels. - 

The grandest spouting springs are to be found 
in Upper Geyser Basin, where there are twenty- 
five active fountains of this character. Here is 
situated the famous " Old Faithful," which, from 
a mound rising gradually about six or eight feet 
above the surrounding level, emits a huge column 
of boiling water for five or six minutes in each 
hour with never-failing regularity, while it gives 
forth at all times clouds of steam and heated air. 
The height reached by the waters of this thermal 
fountain varies from eighty to one hundred and 
twenty feet, and it has earned its expressive name 
by never failing to be on time. It seemed, some- 
how, to be a more satisfactoiy representative of the 
spouting spring phenomenon than any other in 
the entire Park, though it would be difficult to say 
exactly why. Its prominent position, dominating 
the rest of the geysers of the basin, gives it special 
effect. Irrespective of all other similar exhibi- 
tions, the stately column of " Old Faithful " rises 
heavenward with splendid effect in the broad light 
of day, or in the still hours of the night, once in 



THE BEEHIVE AND THE GIANTESS. 43 

every sixty minutes, as uniformly as the rotation 
of the second-band of a watch. The effect was 
ghostly at midnight under the sheen of the moon 
and the contrasting shadows of the woods near at 
hand, while not far away, across the Firehole 
River, the lesser geysers were exhibiting their er- 
ratic performances, casting up occasional crystal 
columns, which glistened in the silvery light like 
pendulous glass. There is quite a large group of 
geysers in this immediate vicinity, which perform 
with notable regularity at stated periods. There is 
one called the Beehive, because of its vent, which 
has a resemblance to an old-fashioned straw arti- 
cle of the sort, the crater being about three feet 
in height. The author saw this spring throw 
up a stream three feet in diameter nearly or quite 
two hundred vertical feet for eight or ten minutes, 
when it gradually subsided. There are over four 
hundred geysers and boiling springs in this basin. 
Among them is the Giantess, situated four hun- 
dred feet from the Beehive, which does not dis- 
play its powers oftener than once in ten or twelve 
dnys; but when the eruption does take place, it 
is said to exceed all the rest in the height which 
it attains and the length of time during which it 
operates. It has no raised crater, but comes forth 
from a vent even with the surface of the ground, 
thirty-four feet in length and twenty-four in 
width. When it is in action, so great is the force 
expended that miniature earthquakes are felt 
throughout the immediate neighborhood. There 
are seen, not far away, the Lion, Lioness, Young 



44 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Faithful, the Grotto, the Splendid, etc., each one 
more or less operative. We have by no means 
enumerated all the active fountains in this basin, 
seeking only to designate their general character. 
However well prepared for the outburst, one can- 
not but feel startled when a geyser suddenly rises, 
mysteriously and ghost-like, close at hand, from 
out the deep bowels of the earth, its white form 
growing taller and taller, while the spray expands 
like weird and shrouded arms. To heighten this 
sepulchral effect the atmosphere is full of sulphur- 
ous vapors, while strange noises fall upon the ear 
like subterranean thunder. What puzzling mys- 
teries Nature holds concealed in her dark, earthy 
bosom ! 

Let us not forget to mention, in this connection, 
one of the largest fountains of the Firehole Basin, 
namely, the Grand Geyser, which is placed next 
to the Excelsior in size and performance. This 
fountain has no raised cone, and operates once in 
about thirty-six hours. Of course the visitor is 
not able to see each and all of these strange foun- 
tains in operation. He might remain a month 
upon the ground and not do so ; consequently, he 
is obliged to take some of the dimensions and per- 
formances on trust ; but most of the statements 
which are made to him can easily be verified. 

When this Grand Geyser is about to burst forth, 
the deep basin, which is twenty feet and more 
across, first gradually fills with furiously boiling 
water until it overflows the brim ; then it becomes 
shrouded by heavy volumes of steam, out of which 



VARYING ACTION OF THE GEYSERS. 45 

come several loud reports, like the discharge of a 
small cannon, when suddenly the whole body of 
water is lifted, and a column ten or twelve feet 
in diameter rises to a height of ninety feet, from 
the apex of which a lesser stream mounts many 
feet higher, until the earth trembles with the force 
of the discharge and falling water as it rushes 
towards the river. This strange exhibition lasts 
for eight or ten minutes, then the fountain slowly 
subsides, with hoarse mutterings, like some re- 
treating and overmastered wild beast, growling 
sullenly as it disappears. 

It will thus be seen that these geysers vary 
greatly in their action, in the duration of their 
eruptions, and in the intervals which elapse be- 
tween the performances. Some of them labor as 
though the water was slowly pumped up from vast 
depths, some burst forth with full vigor to their 
highest point at once, while others become ex- 
hausted with a brief effort. There are a few that 
subside only to again commence spouting, being 
thus virtually continuous ; but these are not of 
such power as to throw their streams to a great 
height. One group of this sort is called the Min- 
ute Men, some of which spout sixty times within 
the hour ; others eject small streams incessantly. 

This immediate valley is very irregular in sur- 
face and thickly wooded in parts, showing also the 
ruins of many extinct geysers. It is a dozen miles 
long and between two and three wide, literally 
crowded with wonders from end to end. It con- 
tains a collection of boiling and spouting springs 



46 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

on a scale which would belittle all similar phenom- 
ena of the rest of the known world, could they be 
brought together. 

As the reader will have understood, the period 
of activity with all the geysers is more or less 
irregular, except in the instance of Old Faithful. 
We have no knowledge of a simultaneous erup- 
tion having ever taken place. Many of these 
active springs which now exist will, doubtless, 
sooner or later subside and new ones will form to 
take their places, a process which has been going 
on, no one can even guess for how many ages. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Great Yellowstone Lake. — Myriads of Birds. — Solitary 
Beauty of the Lake. — The Flora of the Park. — Devastating 
Fires. — Wild Animals. — Grand Volcanic Centre. — Moun- 
tain Climbing and Wonderful Views. — A Story of Discovery. 
— Government Exploration of the Eeservation. — Governor 
Washburn's Expedition. — "For the Benefit of the People at 
Large Forever." 

In the southern section of the Yellowstone Park, 
near its longitudinal centre, is one of the most 
beautiful yet lonely lakes imaginable, framed in a 
margin of sparkling sands, and surrounded by Al- 
pine heights. One stretch of the shore about five 
miles long is called Diamond Beach ; the volcanic 
material of which it is formed, being entirely ob- 
sidian, reflects the sun's rays like brilliant gems, 
while the beach is caressed by wavelets scarcely 
less bright. Surrounded by many wonders, the 
lake is itself a great surprise, lying in the bosom 
of rock-ribbed mountains at an elevation of nearly 
eight thousand feet above the sea. We know of 
but one other large body of water on the globe at 
any such height, namely, Lake Titicaca, in South 
America, famous in Peruvian history. The Yel- 
lowstone Lake is always of crystal clearness, and 
is fed from the eternal snow that piles itself up 
on the lofty peaks which surround it, and which 
are sharply outlined in all directions against the 



48 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

blue of the sky. The outlet of the lake is the 
Yellowstone River, which issues f rom the northern 
end, while the Upper Yellowstone runs into it on 
the opposite side. The lake is twenty-two miles 
long by fifteen in width, and has an area of a han- 
dled and fifty square miles. Its greatest depth 
is three hundred feet, and it is overstocked with 
trout, many of which, unfortunately, are infested 
by a parasitic worm which renders them unfit for 
food ; but this is not the case with all the fish ; a 
large portion are good and wholesome. Geologists 
find sufficient evidence to satisfy them that this 
lake, now narrowed to the dimensions just given, 
in ancient times covered two thirds of the present 
Park. Aquatic birds abound upon its broad sur- 
face, and build their myriad nests on its green 
islands. They are of many species, comprising 
geese, cranes, swans, snipe, mallards, teal, cur- 
lew, plover, and ducks of various sorts. Pelicans 
swim about in long white lines ; herons, in their 
delicate ash- colored plumage, stand idly on the 
shore, while ermine -feathered gulls fill the air 
with their loud and tuneless serenade. Hawks, 
kingfishers, and ravens also abound on the shore, 
the first-named watching other birds as they rise 
from the water with fish, which they make it their 
business, freebooter-like, to rob them of. The 
lake has many thickly-wooded islands, and there 
are several long, pine-covered promontories which 
stretch out in a graceful manner from the main- 
land, the whole forming a grand primeval solitude. 
Now and again a solitary eagle, on broad-spread 



YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 49 

pinions, sails away from the top of some lofty pine 
on the mountain side to the deep green seclusion 
of the nearest island. Even the presence of this 
proud and austere bird only serves to emphasize 
the grave and solemn loneliness which rests upon 
the locality. 

It is a charming feature of this placid lake 
which causes it to gather into its bosom a picture 
of all things far and near : the clouds, " those 
playful fancies of the mighty sky," seem to float 
upon its surface ; the blue of the heavens is re- 
flected there ; the tall peaks and wooded slopes 
mirror themselves in its depths. As we look upon 
the lake through the purple haze of sunset, a pic- 
ture is presented of surpassing loveliness, tinted 
with blue and golden hues, which creep lovingly 
closer and closer about the quiet isles ; while there 
come from out the forest resinous pine odors, de- 
lightfully soothing to the senses, accompanied by 
the soft music of swaying branches, and the low 
drone of insect life. 

To linger over such a scene is a joy and an in- 
spiration to the experienced traveler, who, in 
wandering hither and thither upon the globe, 
places an occasional white stone at certain points 
to which i^mory turns with never-failing pleas- 
ure. Thus he recalls a sunrise over the silvery 
peaks of the grand Himalayan range ; a thrilling 
view from the Mosque of Mahomet Ali at Cairo, 
localizing Biblical story; or a summer sunset-glow 
on the glassy mirror of the Yellowstone Lake. 

Along the mountain side, east of the lake, are 



50 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

ancient terraces, indented shorelines, and other 
evidences which clearly prove that, at no very 
remote geological period, the surface of this grand 
sheet of water was at least five or six hundred feet 
higher than it is at the present time. Nearly two 
hundred square miles of the Park are still covered 
by lakes. 

As to the flora of the Yellowstone Park, seventy- 
five per cent, of the whole area seems to be covered 
by dense forests, the black fir being the most plen- 
tiful, often growing to three or four feet in diam- 
eter and a hundred and fifty feet in height. The 
white pine is the most graceful among the indig- 
enous trees, and is always remarkable for its 
stately symmetrical beauty. The thick groves of 
balsam fir are particularly fine and fragrant, while 
the dwarf maples and willows are charming fea- 
tures as they mingle abundantly with larger and 
more pretentious trees. Wild flowers, Nature's 
bright mosaics, are found in great variety during 
the summer, though there is rarely a night in this 
neighborhood without frost, while the winters are 
truly arctic in temperature. The larkspur, col- 
umbine, harebell, lupin, and primrose abound, 
with occasional daisies and other blossoms. Yel- 
low water-lilies, anchored by their fragile stems, 
profusely sprinkle and beautify the surface of the 
shady pools. Exquisite ferns, lichens, and vel- 
vety mosses delight the appreciative eye in many 
a sylvan nook which is only invaded by squirrels 
and song-birds. 

Here, as in the valley of the Yosemite, it is 



WILD ANIMALS. 51 

melancholy to see the track of devastating fires 
caused by the half-extinguished blaze left by care- 
less camping parties. It is difficult to realize how 
intelligent people can be so wickedly reckless as 
to cause such destruction. Many a forest mon- 
arch stands bereft of every limb by the devouring 
flames, and large areas are entirely denuded of 
growth other than the shrubbery which springs 
up quickly after a sweeping fire in the woods, as 
though Nature desired to cover from sight the 
devastating footsteps of the Fire King. The 
grasses grow luxuriantly, especially alpine, timo- 
thy, and Kentucky blue grass. 

There are many wild animals in the Park, such 
as elk, deer, antelope, big-horn sheep, foxes, buf- 
falo, and what is called the California lion, a small 
but rather dangerous animal for the hunter to 
encounter. The buffalo is rarely seen in the 
West, and it is said is now only to be found wild 
in this Park. The streams and creeks also swarm 
with otter, beaver, and mink. These animals are 
all protected by law, visitors being only permitted 
to shoot such birds as they can cook and eat in 
their camps, together with any species of bear 
they may chance to fall in with ; and there are 
several kinds of the latter animal to be found in 
the hills. At least this has been the case until 
lately ; but stricter rules have been found neces- 
sary, and no visitors are now permitted to take 
firearms with them while remaining in the Park. 
The purpose of the government is to strictly pre- 
serve the game, the effect of which has already 



52 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

been to render the animals gathered here less shy 
of human approach, and to greatly increase their 
number. 

So abundant are the evidences of grand vol- 
canic action throughout the lake basin that it has 
been looked upon by scientists as the remains or 
centre of one enormous crater forty miles across ! 
Dr. Hayden, the profound geologist, who was sent 
professionally by the government to report upon 
the Park, declares it to have been the former 
scene of volcanic activity as great as that of any 
part of this planet, a conclusion which the ob- 
server of to-day is quite*ready to admit, inasmuch 
as the subsidence kzs vet left enough of the orig- 
inal forces to demonstrate the sleeping power 
which still lurks restlessly beneath the soil. We 
wonder, standing amid such remarkable surround- 
ings, how many centuries have passed since the 
valley assumed its present shape. Everything is 
indicative of high antiquity, and it is probably 
rather thousands than hundreds of years since 
this volcanic centre was at its maximum power 
and activity. The valley has been partly exca- 
vated out of ancient crystalline rocks, partly out 
of later stratified formations, and partly from 
masses of lava that were poured forth during a 
succession of ages which make up the different 
epochs of the earth's long history. 

The lowest level of the Park is about six thou- 
sand feet above the sea, and the average elevation, 
independent of mountains, is much over this esti- 
mate. It is very properly designated as the sum- 






MOUNT WASHBURN. 53 

mit of the continent, and gives rise to three of the 
largest rivers in North America, namely : on the 
north side are the sources of the Yellowstone ; on 
the west, three of the forks of the Missouri ; and 
on the southwest are the sources of the Snake 
River, which flows into the Columbia, and thence 
to the distant Pacific Ocean. 

If possible, before leaving the neighborhood, 
the visitor should ascend Mount Washburn, the 
highest point of observation within the great 
reservation, a feat easily accomplished on horse- 
back. Such an excursion is particularly desirable 
since all the scenery of the Park is circumscribed 
while we are at the level of its springs, geysers, 
and lakes. The grand view from this elevation 
will repay all the time and effort expended in its 
accomplishment. Its height above the base is five 
thousand feet, its height above the sea five thou- 
sand more. A clear day is absolutely necessary 
for the proper enjoyment of such an excursion, 
in order to bring out fairly the panorama of for- 
ests, lakes, prairies, and mountains, decked by 
the golden glory of the sunshine. In some direc- 
tions the vision reaches a hundred and fifty miles 
through space. Here, on the summit of Mount 
Washburn, we virtually stand upon the apex of 
the North American continent, if we except one 
or two of the sky-reaching peaks of the Territory 
of Alaska. 

As we face the north, just before us lies the 
valley of the Yellowstone, and in the distance, 
looming far above its surroundings, is the tall 



54 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Emigrant Peak. To the eastward Index and 
Pilot peaks pierce the clouds, beyond which 
stretches away the Big Horn Range. In the 
west the summits of the Gallatin Mountains fol- 
low one another northward, while trending in the 
same direction, but farther towards the horizon, 
is the lofty Madison Range. We gaze until be- 
wildered by peak after peak, mountain beyond 
mountain, range upon range, mingling with each 
other, all combining to form a glorious view em- 
bodying the indescribably grand characteristics of 
the Rocky Mountain system, the equal of which 
we may never again behold. 

The tall range of mountains which girdle the 
Park are snow-covered all the year round, frigid, 
giant sentinels, which long proved a complete 
barrier to organized exploration, forming an amphi- 
theatre of sublime and lonely scenery. The story 
of the discovery of this Wonderland is briefly told 
as follows : It seems that a gold-seeking prospector 
named Coulter made his way with infinite per- 
severance into the region in 1807, and after many 
hair-breadth escapes from Indians, wild beasts, 
poisonous waters, and starvation, finally succeeded 
in rejoining his comrades, whom he entertained 
with stories of what he had seen, which seemed 
to them so incredible that they believed him to be 
crazy. Afterwards, first one and then another ad- 
venturer found his way hither, and though each of 
them corroborated Coulter's story, they were by 
no means fully credited. But public attention and 
curiosity were thus aroused, leading the govern- 



GOVERNOR WASHBURN'S EXPEDITION. 55 

ment to send Professor Hayden and a small ex- 
ploring party to carefully examine the region. 
This enterprise not only corroborated the stories 
already made public, but greatly added to their 
volume and amazing detail. 

It was found that the representations of Coulter 
and those who followed him, so far from exaggerat- 
ing the wonders of the Yellowstone, in reality fell 
far below the truth. 

During the year 1870 Governor Washburn, 
accompanied by a small body of United States 
cavalry, entered the Park by the valley of the 
Yellowstone, and thoroughly explored the canons, 
the shores of the great lake, and the geyser region 
of Firehole River, together with the various in- 
teresting localities of which we have spoken. On 
returning he declared that the party had seen the 
greatest marvels to be found upon this continent, 
and that there was no other spot on the globe 
where there were crowded together so many natu- 
ral wonders, combined with so much beauty and 
grandeur. 

Finally Congress, foreseeing that the greed of 
speculators would lead them to monopolize this 
Wonderland for mercenary purposes, promptly 
took action in the matter, setting the region aside 
as a National Park and Reservation, for the benefit 
of the people at large forever, retaining the fee 
and control of the same in the name of the gov- 
ernment. 

Not many persons have ever attempted to 
traverse the Park in the winter season, but it has 



56 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

been done by a few hardy and adventurous people, 
who nearly perished in the attempt. Such indi- 
viduals have reported that the raging snow-storms 
and blizzards which they encountered were on a 
scale quite equal to the other demonstrations and 
natural curiosities of the place. The trees in their 
neighborhood were beautifully gemmed with the 
frozen vapor of the geysers, and the heated springs 
seemed doubly active by the contrast between 
their temperature and that of the freezing atmos- 
phere. It was only by camping at night upon the 
very brink of these boiling waters that life could 
be sustained, with the atmosphere at forty degrees 
below zero. 

One who comes hither with preconceived ideas 
of the peculiar sights to be met with is sure to be 
disappointed, not in their want of strangeness, for 
the Park is overstocked with curiosities having 
no counterpart elsewhere, but the features are so 
thoroughly unique that his anticipations are tran- 
scended both in the quality and the quantity of 
the food for wonder which is spread out before 
him on every side. 



CHAPTER V. 

Westward Journey resumed. — Queen City of the Mountains. — 
Crossing the Rockies. — Butte City, the Great Mining Centre. 
— Montana. — The Ked Men. — About the Aborigines. — The 
Cowboys of the West. — A Successful Hunter. — Emigrant 
Teams on the Prairies. — Immense Forests. — Puget Sound. — 
The Famous Stampede Tunnel. — Immigration. 

After a delightful, though brief, sojourn of ten 
days in the Yellowstone Park, realizing that twice 
that length of time might be profitably spent 
therein, we returned to Livingston, where the 
Northern Pacific Railroad was once more reached, 
and the westward journey promptly resumed. The 
Belt Range of mountains is soon crossed, at an 
elevation of over five thousand five hundred feet. 
A remarkable tunnel is also passed through, three 
thousand six hundred feet in length, from which 
the train emerges into a grand canon, and soon 
arrives at the city of Bozeman. This place has 
a thrifty and intelligent population of over five 
thousand, and is notable for its rural and pictur- 
esque surroundings, in the fertile Gallatin Valley, 
which is encircled by majestic ranges of moun- 
tains, shrouded in " white, cold, virgin snow." 
Having passed the point where the Madison and 
JpfTerson rivers unite to form the headwaters of 
that great river, the Missouri, whence it starts 



58 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

upon its long and winding course of over four 
thousand miles towards the Mexican Gulf, we 
arrive presently at Helena, the interesting capital 
of Montana. This is called the " Queen City of 
the Mountains," and is famous as a great and suc- 
cessful mining centre, the present population of 
which is about twenty thousand. It is said to 
be the richest city of its size in the United States, 
an assertion which we have good reasons for be- 
lieving to be correct. The vast mineral region 
surrounding Helena is unsurpassed anywhere for 
the number and richness of its gold and silver- 
bearing lodes, having within an area of twenty- 
five miles over three thousand such natural 
deposits, the ownership of which is duty recorded, 
and man}?- of which are being profitably worked. 
The city is lighted by a system of electric lamps, 
and has an excellent water-supply from inex- 
haustible mountain streams. 

We were told an authentic story illustrating the 
richness of the soil in and about Helena, as a gold- 
bearing earth, which we repeat in brief. 

It seems that a resident was digging a cellar on 
which to place a foundation for a new dwelling- 
house, when a passing stranger asked permission 
to remove the pile of earth that was being thrown 
out of the excavation, agreeing to return one half 
of whatever value he could get from the same, 
after washing and submitting it to the usual treat- 
ment by which gold is extracted. Permission was 
granted, and the earth was soon removed. The 
citizen thought no more about the matter. After a 



NORTHERN PACIFIC COUNTRY. 59 

couple of weeks, however, the stranger returned 
and handed the proprietor of the ground thirteen 
hundred dollars as his half of the proceeds real- 
ized from the dirt casually thrown out upon the 
roadway in digging his cellar. 

Between Helena and Garrison the main range 
of the Rocky Mountains is crossed, and at an 
elevation of five thousand five hundred and forty 
feet the cars enter what is called the Mullan Tun- 
nel. This dismal and remarkable excavation is 
nearly four thousand feet long. From it the west- 
ern-bound traveler finally emerges on the Pacific 
slope, passing through the beautiful valley of the 
Little Blackfoot. 

The region through which we were traveling 
stretches from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, on 
the Pacific coast, and spreads out for many miles 
on either side of the Northern Pacific Railroad, 
known as the " Northern Pacific Country." No 
portion of the United Sates offers more favorable 
opportunities for settlement, and in no other sec- 
tion is there as much desirable government land 
still open to preemption, presenting such a variety 
of surface, richness of soil, and wealth of natural 
productions. Intelligent emigrants are rapidly 
appropriating the land of this very attractive 
region, but there is still enough and to spare. 
Europe may continue to send us her surplus popu- 
lation for fifty years to come at the same rate she 
has done for the past half century, and there will 
still be room enough in the great West and North- 
west to accommodate them. 



60 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

As we left the main track of the Northern Pa- 
cific Railroad at Livingston to visit the Yellow- 
stone Park, so at Garrison we again take a branch 
road to Butte City, situated fifty-five miles south- 
ward, and which is admitted to be the greatest 
mining city of the American continent. Here, on 
the, western slope of the main range of the Rocky 
Mountains, stands the "Silver City," as it is gen- 
erally called, though one of its main features is its 
copper product, which rivals that of the Lake 
Superior district in quantity and quality, giving 
employment to the most extensive smelting works 
in the world. There are thirty thousand inhab- 
itants in Butte, and it is rapidly growing in terri- 
tory and population. Its citizens seem to be far 
above the average of our frontier settlers in intel- 
ligence and thrift. The Blue Bird silver mine is 
perhaps the richest in this locality, yielding every 
twelve months a million and a half of dollars in 
bullion ; while the Moulton, Alice, and Lexing- 
ton mines each produce a million dollars or more 
in silver yearly. There are several other rich 
mines, among them the Anaconda copper mine, 
which gives an aggregate each year larger in value 
than any we have named. The Parrott Copper 
Company, also the Montana and Boston Copper 
Company, each show an annual output of metal 
valued at a million of dollars. In place of there 
being any falling off in these large amounts, all of 
the mines are increasing their productiveness 
monthly by means of improved processes and 
enlarged mechanical facilities. But we have gone 



MONTANA. 61 

sufficiently into detail to prove the assertion al- 
ready made, that Butte City is the greatest mining 
town on the continent. Eight tenths of its popu- 
lation is connected, either directly or indirectly, 
with mining. 

" It would seem that the United States form 
the richest mineral country on the globe," said an 
English fellow-traveler to whom these facts were 
being explained by an intelligent resident. 

" That has long been admitted," said the 
American. 

u And what country comes.next?" asked the 
Englishman. 

" Australia," was the reply. " But the United 
States," continued the American, " have another 
and superior source of wealth exceeding that of 
all other lands, namely, their agricultural ca- 
pacity. There are here millions upon millions of 
acres, richer than the valley of the Nile, which 
are still virgin soil untouched by the plow or 
harrow." 

Not mining, but agriculture forms the great 
and lasting wealth of our broad and fertile West- 
ern States, rich though they be in mineral deposits, 
especially of gold and silver. 

Before proceeding further on our journey, let 
us pause for a moment to consider the magnitude 
of this imperial State of Montana, which measures 
over five hundred miles from east to west, and 
which is three hundred miles from north to south, 
containing one hundred and forty-four thousand 
square miles. This makes it larger in surface 



62 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

than the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Mary- 
land, Ohio, and Indiana combined. With its vast 
stores of mineral wealth and many other advan- 
tages, who will venture to predict its future possi- 
bilities? It would be difficult to exaggerate them. 
The precious metals mined in the State during the 
last year gave a total value of over forty million 
of dollars, which was an increase of six million 
over that of the preceding year. Between forty 
and fifty million dollars in value is anticipated as 
the result of the local mining enterprise for the 
current twelve months, and yet we consider this 
to be the second, not the first, interest of Montana ; 
agriculture take the precedence. 

Returning to Garrison, after a couple of days 
passed at Butte City examining its extremely in- 
teresting system of mining for the precious metals, 
we once more resume our western journey. 

Along the less populous portions of the route 
groups of dirty, but picturesque looking Indians 
are seen lounging about, wrapped in fiery red 
blankets. These belong to various native tribes, 
such as the Sioux, Blackfeet, Cheyennes, and 
Arapahoes. Bucks, squaws, and papooses gather 
about the small railroad stations, partly from cu- 
riosity, and partly because they have nothing else 
to do ; but they are ever ready to sell trifles of 
their own rude manufacture to travelers as sou- 
venirs, also gladly receiving donations of tobacco 
or small silver coins. The men are fat, lazy, and 
useless, scorning even the semblance of working 



THE WARDS OF TEE GOVERNMENT. 63 

for a livelihood, leaving the squaws to do the 
trading with travelers. These are " wards " of 
our government, who receive regular annuities of 
money and subsistence, including flour, beef, blan- 
kets, and so on. Support is thus insured to them 
so long as they live, and no American Indian was 
ever known to work for himself, or any one else, 
unless driven to it by absolute necessity. 

When the author first crossed these plains, 
nearly thirty years ago, before there was any 
transcontinental railroad, the Indian tribes were 
very different people from what we find them to- 
day. The men were thin in flesh, wiry, active, and 
constantly on the alert. They were ever ready 
for bloodshed and robbery when they could be 
perpetrated without much danger to themselves. 
Contact with civilization has changed all this. 
They have become fat and lazy. They have bor- 
rowed the white man's vices, but have ignored 
his virtues. When not fighting with the pale 
faces, the tribes were, thirty and forty years ago, 
incessantly at war with each other, thus actively 
promoting the fate which surely awaited them as 
a people. Their pride, even to-day, is to display 
at their belts not only the scalps of white men 
and women taken in belligerent times, but also 
the scalps of hostile tribes of their own race. 

We believe most sincerely in fulfilling all treaty 
obligations between our government and the In- 
dians, to the very letter of the contract, nor have 
we any doubt that our official agents have often 
been unfaithful in the performance of their duties; 



64 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

but when we attempt to create saints and martyrs 
out of the Red Men, we are certainly forcing the 
canonizing principle. They are entitled to as 
much consideration as the whites, but they are 
not entitled to more. They are crafty and cruel 
by nature ; this is, perhaps, not their fault, but it 
is their misfortune. Nothing is really gained in 
our fine-span moral theories by attempting to de- 
ceive ourselves or others. The plain truth is the 
best. 

A little way from the railroad station on the 
open prairie the camps of these aborigines may 
often be seen, consisting of a few rude buffalo 
hides or canvas tents, while a score of rough look- 
ing ponies are grazing hard by, tethered to stakes 
driven into the soil. Here and there in front of 
a tent an iron kettle, in which a savory compound 
of meat and vegetables is simmering, hangs upon 
a tripod above a low fire built on the ground, 
presided over by some ancient squaw, all very 
much like a gypsy camp by the roadside in far off 
Granada. 

The male aborigines wear semi-civilized cloth- 
ing made of dressed deerskins, and woolen goods 
indiscriminately mixed ; their long coarse black 
hair, decked with eagle's feathers, hangs about 
their necks and faces, the latter often smeared 
with yellow ochre. Now and then a touch of 
manliness is seen in the bearing and facial expres- 
sion of the bucks ; but the larger number are de- 
bauched and degraded specimens of humanity, 
who impress the stranger with some curiosit}^, but 



COWBOYS. 65 

with very little interest. Like the gypsies of 
Spain, they are incorrigible nomads, detesting the 
ordinary conventionalities of civilized life. The 
Indian women are clad in leather leggings, blue 
woolen skirts and waists, having striped blankets 
gathered loosely over their shoulders. No one 
can truthfully ascribe the virtue of cleanliness to 
these squaws. The papooses are strapped in flat 
baskets to the mothers' backs, being swathed, 
arms, legs, and body, like an Egyptian mummy, 
and are as silent even as those dried-up remains 
of humanity. Whoever heard an Indian baby 
cry ? The mothers seemed to be kind to the little 
creatures, whose faces, like those of the Eskimo 
babies, are so fat that they can hardly open their 
eyes. 

We are sure to see about these railroad stations 
in the far West an occasional " cowboy," clad in 
his fanciful leather suit cut after the Mexican 
style, wearing heavy spurs, and carrying a ready 
revolver in his belt. His long hair is covered by 
a broad felt sombrero, and he wears a high-col- 
ored handkerchief tied loosely about his neck. He 
enjoys robust health, is sinewy, clear-eyed, and in- 
telligent in every feature, leading an active, open- 
air life as a herdsman, and being ever ready for an 
Indian fight or a generous act of self-abnegation 
in behalf of a comrade. He will not object on 
an occasion to join a lynching-party who happen 
to have in hand some horse-thief or a murderous 
scoundrel who has long successfully defied the 
laws. These cowboys are splendid horsemen, sit- 



66 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

ting their high -pommeled Mexican saddles like 
the Arabs. They are oftentimes educated young 
men, belonging to respectable Eastern families, 
seeking a brief experience of this wild, exposed 
life, simply from a love of independence and ad- 
venture. They are chivalric, and nearly always 
to be found on the side of justice, however quick 
they may be in the use of the revolver. Their 
life is spent amid associations, and in regions, 
where the slow process of the law does not meet 
the exigencies constantly occurring. The reader 
may be assured that they are nevertheless gov- 
erned by a sense of " wild justice," in which an 
element of real equity predominates. To realize 
the skill which they acquire, one must see half a 
dozen of them join together in " rounding up " a 
herd of several hundred cattle, or wild horses, 
scattered and feeding on the prairie, and from the 
herds collect and sort out the animals belonging to 
different owners, all being distinctly branded with 
hot irons when brought from Texas or elsewhere. 
In doing this it is often necessary to lasso and 
throw an animal while the operator is himself in 
the saddle and his horse at full gallop. No eques- 
trian feats of the ring equal their daily perform- 
ances, and no Indian of the prairies can compare 
with them for daring and successful horseman- 
ship. Indeed, an Indian is hardly the equal of a 
white man in anything, not even in endurance. 
"An intelligent white man can beat any Indian, 
even at his own game," says Buffalo Bill. Each 
one of the aborigines has his pony, and some have 



PRAIRIE SCHOONERS. 67 

two or three, but they are as a rule of a poor 
breed, overworked and underfed. They are never 
housed, never supplied with grain, but subsist 
solely upon the coarse bunch grass of the prairie. 
The poor, uncared-for animals which are seen as 
described about the natives' encampments tell 
their own doleful story. The Indian ponies and 
the squaws are alike always abused. 

As we cross these plains straggling emigrant 
teams are often seen, called " prairie schooners." 
The wagons as a rule are much the worse for 
wear, being surmounted by a rude canvas cover- 
ing, dark and mildewed, under which a wife and 
four or five children are generally domiciled. A 
few domestic utensils are carried in, or hung upon 
the body of, the vehicle, — a tin dipper here, a 
water-pail there, a frying-pan in one place, and an 
iron kettle in another. These wagons are usually 
drawn by a couple of sorry-looking horses, and 
sometimes by a yoke of oxen. Beside the team 
trudges the father and husband, the typical 
pioneer farmer, hardy, independent, self-reliant, 
bound west to find means of support for himself 
and brood. Many such are seen as we glide 
swiftly over the iron rails, causing us to realize 
how steadily the stream of humanity flows west- 
ward, spreading itself over the virgin soil of the 
new States and Territories, and producing a 
growth in population no less legitimate than it 
is rapid. These pioneers are almost invariably 
farmers, and by adhering to their calling are sure 
to make at least a comfortable living. 



68 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

While stopping at a watering-place in the early 
morning, the picturesque figure of a hunter was 
seen with rifle in hand. Over his shoulder hung 
the body of an antelope, while some smaller game 
was secured to his leathern belt. He had just cap- 
tured these in the wild brown hills which border 
the plateau where our train had stopped. Coop- 
er's Leather-Stocking Tales were instantly sug- 
gested to the mind of the observer, as he watched 
the careless, graceful attitude and bearing of the 
rugged frontiersman, whose entire unconsciousness 
of the unique figure which he presented was espe- 
cially noticeable. 

After traveling more than five hundred miles 
in Montana, which is surpassed in size only by 
Alaska and Dakota, we enter northern Idaho, at- 
tractive for its wild and picturesque scenery, — a 
territory of mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and 
prairies combined, second only to Montana in its 
mineral wealth, and possessing also some of the 
choicest agricultural districts in the great West, 
where Nature herself freely bestows the best of 
irrigation in uniform and abundant rains. While 
traveling in Idaho we find that the route passes 
through a magnificent forest region, where the 
trees measure from six to ten feet in diameter, 
and are of colossal height, such growing timber 
as would challenge comment in any part of the 
world, consisting mostly of white pine, cedar, and 
hemlock. 

We soon cross into the State of Washington, 
its northern boundary being British Columbia 



SPOKANE FALLS. 69 

and its southern boundary Oregon, from which it 
is separated for more than a hundred miles of its 
length by the Columbia River. Its form is that 
of a parallelogram, fronting upon the Pacific 
Ocean for about two hundred and fifty miles, and 
having a length from east to west of over three 
hundred and sixty miles. This State has im- 
mense agricultural areas, as well as being rich in 
coal, iron, and timber. We pause at Spokane 
Falls for a day and night of rest. It is on the 
direct line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and is 
the principal city of eastern Washington, having 
the largest and best water-power on the Pacific 
slope. Government engineers report the water 
fall here to exceed two hundred thousand horse- 
power, a small portion only of which is yet im- 
proved, and that as a motor for large grain and 
flouring mills. Here we find a thrifty business 
community numbering over twelve thousand, the 
streets traversed by a horse railroad, and the place 
having electric lights, gas and public water works, 
with a Methodist and a Catholic college. It com- 
mands the trade of what is termed the Big Bend 
country and the Palouse district, and is the fitting- 
out place for the thousands of miners engaged in 
Coeur d'Alene County. In spite of the late dis- 
astrous fire which she has experienced, Spokane, 
like Seattle, will rapidly rise from her ashes. 
Official reports show that over nine million acres 
of this State are particularly adapted to the rais- 
ing of wheat. Our route, after a brief rest at 
Spokane Falls, lies through Palouse County, where 



70 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

this cereal is raised in quantities proportionately 
larger than even in Dakota, and at a considerably 
less cost. Thirty-five to forty bushels of wheat 
to the acre is considered a royal yield in Dakota 
and the best localities elsewhere, but here fifty 
bushels to the acre are pretty sure to reward the 
cultivator, and even this large amount is some- 
times exceeded. One enthusiastic observer and 
writer declares that Palouse County is destined to 
destroy wheat-growing in India by virtue of its 
immense crops, its favorable seasons, its economy 
of production, and its proximity to the seaboard. 

In the western part of the State, on Puget 
Sound, the lumber business is the most important 
industry, giving profitable employment to thou- 
sands of people. The productive capacity of the 
several sawmills on the sound is placed at two mil- 
lion feet per day, and all are in active operation. 
A new one of large proportions was also observed 
to be in course of construction. The forests which 
produce the crude material are practically inex- 
haustible. The pines are of great size, ranging 
from eight to twelve feet in diameter, and from 
two hundred to two hundred and eighty feet in 
height. No trees upon this continent, except the 
giant conifers of the Yosemite, surpass these in 
magnitude. United States surveyors have de- 
clared, in their printed reports, that this State 
contains the finest body of timber in the world, 
and that its forests cover an area larger than the 
entire State of Maine. 

The most productive hop districts that are 



IMMIGRATION. 71 

known anywhere are to be found in the broad 
valleys of this State, where hop-growing has be- 
come a great and increasing industry, yielding 
remarkable profits upon the money invested and 
the labor required to market the crop. The 
course of the railroad is lined with these gorgeous 
fields of bloom, hanging on poles fifteen feet in 
height, planted with mathematical regularity. 
Large fruit orchards of apples, pears, peaches, 
cherries, and other varieties are seen flourishing 
here ; and residents speak confidently of fruit rais- 
ing as being one of the most promising future in- 
dustries of this region, together with the canning 
and preserving of the fruits for use in Eastern 
markets. We are reminded, in this connection, 
that the United States crop reports also repre- 
sent Washington as producing more bushels of 
wheat to the acre than any other State or Terri- 
tory within the national domain. This grand 
region of the far northwestern portion of our 
country is three hundred miles long, from east 
to west, and two hundred and forty miles from 
north to south, giving it an area in round numbers 
of seventy thousand square miles. That is to 
say, it is nearly as large as the States of New 
York and Pennsylvania combined. 

The immigration pouring into the new State 
of Washington is simply enormous, its aggregate 
for the year 1889 being estimated at thirty-five 
thousand persons, the majority of whom come 
hither for agricultural purposes, and to establish 
permanent homes. One train observed by the 



72 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

author consisted of nine second-class cars filled 
entirely with Scandinavians, that is, people from 
Norway and Sweden, presenting an appearance 
of more than average sturdiness and intelligence. 

As the Pacific coast is approached we come to 
the famous Stampede Tunnel, which is nearly ten 
thousand feet long, and, with the exception of the 
Hoosac Tunnel in Massachusetts, the longest in 
America. On emerging from the Stampede Tun- 
nel the traveler gets his first view of Mount 
Tacoma, rising in perpendicular height to nearly 
three miles, the summit robed in dazzling white- 
ness throughout the entire year. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Mount Tacoma. — Terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. — 
Great Inland Sea. — City of Tacoma and its Marvelous 
Growth. — Coal Measures. — The Modoc Indians. — Embark- 
ing for Alaska. — The Rapidly Growing City of Seattle. — 
Tacoma with its Fifteen Glaciers. — Something about Port 
Townsend. — A Chance for Members of Alpine Clubs. 

The city of Tacoma takes its name from the 
grand towering mountain, so massive and sym- 
metrical, in sight of which it is situated. We 
cannot but regret that the newly formed State did 
not assume the name also. 

This is the western terminus of the Northern 
Pacific Railroad, and is destined to become a great 
commercial port in the near future, being situated 
so advantageously at the head of the sound, less 
than two hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean. 
Its well-arranged system of wharves is already a 
mile and a half long, while there is a sufficient 
depth of water in any part of the sound to admit 
of safely mooring the largest ships. The reports 
of the United States Coast Survey describe Puget 
Sound as having sixteen hundred miles of shore 
line, and a surface of two thousand square miles, 
thus forming a grand inland sea, smooth, serene, 
and still, often appropriately spoken of as the 
Mediterranean of the North Pacific. It is in- 



74 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

dented with many bays, harbors, and inlets, and 
receives into its bosom the waters of numerous 
streams and tributaries, all of which are more or 
less navigable, and upon whose banks are estab- 
lished the homes of many hundred thrifty farmers. 

History shows that long ago, before any Pil- 
grims landed at Plymouth, Spanish voyagers 
planted colonies on Puget Sound. From them 
the Indians of these shores learned to grow crops 
of cereals, though according to the ingenious Igna- 
tius Donnelly's " Atlantis " they brought the 
art from a lost continent. Puget Sound may be 
described as an arm of the Pacific which, running 
through the Strait of Fuca, extends for a hundred 
miles, more or less, southward into the State of 
Washington. Nothing can exceed the beauty of 
these deep, calm waters, or their excellence for 
the purpose of navigation ; not a shoal exists either 
in the strait or the sound that can interfere with 
the progress of the largest ironclad. A ship's 
side would strike the shore before her keel would 
touch the bottom. Storms do not trouble these 
waters ; such as are frequently encountered in 
narrow seas, like the Straits of Magellan, and 
heavy snow-storms are unknown. The entire ex- 
panse is deep, clear, and placid. 

Tacoma has about thirty thousand inhabitants 
to-day ; in 1880 it had seven hundred and twenty ! 
The assessed valuation eight years ago was half 
a million dollars. It is now over sixteen mil- 
lion dollars, and this aggregate does not quite 
represent the rapid increase of real estate. Here, 



TACOMA. 75 

months have witnessed more growth and progress 
in permanent business wealth and value of prop- 
erty than years in the history of our Eastern cities. 
At this writing there is being built a large and 
architecturally grand opera house of stone and 
brick which will cost quarter of a million dollars, 
besides which the author counted over forty stone 
and brick business edifices in course of construc- 
tion, and nearly a hundred two and three story 
frame-houses for dwelling purposes, of handsome 
modern architectural designs. Away from the 
business centre of the city the residences are uni- 
versally beautiful, with well-kept lawns of ex- 
quisite green, and small charming flower gardens 
fragrant with roses, syringas, and honeysuckles, 
mingling with pansies, geraniums, verbenas, and 
forget-me-nots. It is astonishing what an air of 
leisure and refinement is imparted to these dwell- 
ings by this means, — an air of retirement and cul- 
ture, amid all the surrounding bustle and rush of 
business interests. 

The city claims an ocean commerce surpassed 
in volume by no other port on the Pacific except 
San Francisco. Its substantial and well-arranged 
brick blocks, of both dwellings and storehouses, 
lining the broad avenues, are suggestive of per- 
manence and commercial importance, while a gen- 
eral appearance of thrift prevails in all of the 
surroundings. Pacific Avenue is noticeably a fine 
thoroughfare, — the principal one of the town. 
The place seems to be thoroughly alive, and 
especially in the vicinity of the shipping. The 



76 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

author counted fifteen ocean steamers in the har- 
bor, and there were at the same time as many large 
sailing vessels lying at the wharves loading with 
lumber, wheat, coal, and other merchandise, exhib- 
iting a degree of commercial energy hardly to be 
expected of so comparatively small a community. 
We were informed that four fifths of the citizens 
were Americans by birth, drawn mostly from the 
educated and energetic classes of the United 
States, forming a community of much more than 
average intelligence. Young America, backed by 
capital, is the element which has made the place 
what it is. It was a surprise to find a hotel so 
large and well appointed in this city as the 
" Tacoma " proved to be ; a five-story stone and 
brick house, of pleasing architectural effect, and 
having ample accommodations for three hundred 
guests. It stands upon rising ground overlooking 
the extensive bay. The view from its broad 
piazzas is something to be remembered. 

Across Commencement Bay is a point of well- 
wooded land, called " Indian Reservation," where 
our government located what remains of the Mo- 
doc tribe who so long resisted the advance of 
the whites towards the Pacific shore. These former 
belligerents are peaceable enough now, fully realiz- 
ing their own interests. 

Statistics show that there is shipped from Ta- 
coma, on an average, a thousand tons of native 
coal per day, mostly to San Francisco and some 
other Pacific ports. A large portion of this coal 
comes from valuable measures belonging to the 



THE LUMBER BUSINESS. 77 

Northern Pacific Railroad Company, situated thirty 
or forty miles from Tacoma, and some from the 
Roslyn mines farther away. The Wilkinson and 
Carbonado mines form the principal source of 
supply for shipment, and the Roslyn for use on 
the railroad. These last are thirty-five thousand 
acres in extent. One of the many veins of the 
Roslyn coal deposit is estimated to contain three 
hundred million tons of coal, conveniently situated 
for transportation on the line of the Northern 
Pacific Railroad. 

The great Tacoma sawmill does a very large and 
successful business, finding its motor in a steam 
engine of fourteen hundred horse-power, and hav- 
ing over seven hundred men on its pay-roll. This 
number includes mill-hands, dock-men, choppers, 
and watermen, the latter being the hands who 
bring the logs by rafts from different parts of the 
sound. There are a dozen other sawmills in and 
about the city. The lumber business of this 
region is fast assuming gigantic proportions, ship- 
ments being regularly made to China, Japan, Aus- 
tralia, and even to Atlantic ports. A whole fleet 
of merchantmen were waiting their turn to take 
in cargo while we were there. We believe that 
Tacoma will ere long become the second city on 
the Pacific coast, and perhaps eventually a rival 
to San Francisco. Its abundance of coal, iron, and 
lumber, added to its variety of fish and immense 
agricultural products, are sufficient to support a 
city twice as large as the capital of California. 

One sturdy gang of men, who are bringing in 



78 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

a large raft of logs, attracts our attention by 
their similarity of dress and general appearance, 
as well as by their dark skins and well-developed 
forms. On inquiry we learn that they are native 
Indians of the Haida tribe, who come down from 
the north to work through a part of the season as 
lumbermen, at liberal wages. They are accus- 
tomed to perilous voyages while seeking the whale 
and fishing for halibut in deep waters, command- 
ing good wages, as being equal to any white labor- 
ers obtainable. 

We embark at Tacoma for Alaska in a large and 
well-appointed steamer belonging to the Pacific 
Coast Steamship Company, heading due north. 

The first place of importance at which we stop 
is the city of Seattle, the oldest American settle- 
ment on the sound, and now having a busy com- 
mercial population of nearly thirty thousand. It 
has an admirable harbor, deep, ample in size, and 
circular in form ; the commercial facilities could 
hardly be improved. Here again are large sub- 
stantial brick and stone blocks, schools, churches, 
and various public and private edifices of archi- 
tectural excellence. Enterprise and wealth are 
conspicuous, while the neighboring scenery is 
grand and attractive. To the east of the city, 
scarcely a mile away, is situated a very beautiful 
body of water, deep and pure, known as Lake 
Washington, twenty miles long by an average of 
three in width, and from which the citizens have 
a never-failing supply of the best of water. The 
lake has an area of over sixty square miles, and is 



SEATTLE. 79 

surrounded by hills covered with a noble forest- 
growth of fir, spruce, and cedar. Seattle has four 
large public schools averaging six hundred pupils 
each, aud a university to which there are seven 
professors attached, with a regular attendance of 
two hundred students. 

Among the great natural resources of this re- 
gion there is included sixty thousand acres of 
coal fields within a radius of thirty miles of Seat- 
tle. These coal fields are connected with the city 
by railways. Tacoma and Seattle are also joined 
by rail, besides two daily lines of steamboats. 

Great is the rivalry existing between the people 
here and those of Tacoma, but there is certainly 
room enough for both ; and, notwithstanding the 
destructive fire which lately occurred at Seattle, it 
is prospering wonderfully. About four miles dis- 
tant from the centre of business is situated one of 
the largest steel manufactories in this country, the 
immediate locality being known as Moss Bay. 
Here timber, water, coal, and mineral are close 
at hand to further the object of this mammoth 
establishment, which, when in full operation, will 
give employment to five thousand men. Real 
estate speculation is the present rage at Seattle, 
based on the idea that it is to be the port of 
Pu^et Sound. 

Between the city and hoary-headed Mount 
Tacoma is one of the finest hop-growing valleys 
extant. It has enriched its dwellers by this in- 
dustry, and more hops are being planted each 
succeeding year, increasing the quantity exported 



80 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

by some twenty-five per cent, annually. It may 
be doubted if the earth produces a more beauti- 
ful sight in the form of an annual crop of vege- 
tation than that afforded by a hop-field, say of 
forty acres, when in full bloom. We were told 
that the land of King County, of which Seattle is 
the capital, is marvelous in fertility, especially 
in the valleys, often producing four tons of hay 
to the acre ; three thousand pounds of hops, or 
six hundred bushels of potatoes, or one hundred 
bushels of oats to the acre are common. It must 
be remembered also that while there is plenty of 
land to be had of government or the Northern Pa- 
cific Railroad Company at singularly low rates, 
transportation in all directions by land or water is 
ample and convenient, a desideratum by no means 
to be found everywhere. 

From the deck of the steamer, as we sail north- 
ward, the irregular-formed, but well-wooded shore 
is seen to be dotted with hamlets, sawmills, farms, 
and hop-fields, all forming a pleasing foreground 
to the remarkable scenery of land and water pre- 
sided over by the snow-crowned peak of Mount 
Tacoma, which looms fourteen thousand feet and 
more skyward in its grandeur and loneliness. How 
awful must be the stillness which pervades those 
heights! As we view it, the snow -line com- 
mences at about six thousand feet from the' base, 
above which there are eight thousand feet more, 
ice-topped and glacier-bound, where the snow 
and ice rest in endless sleep. There are embraced 
within the capacious bosom of Tacoma fifteen 



MOUNT TACOMA. 81 

glaciers, three of which, by liberal road-making 
and engineering, have been rendered accessible to 
visitors, and a few persistent mountain climbers 
come hither every year to witness glacial scenery 
finer than can be found in Europe. Persons who 
have traveled in Japan will be struck by the 
strong resemblance of this Alpine Titan to the 
famous volcano of Fujiyama, whose snow-wreathed 
cone is seen by the stranger as he enters the har- 
bor of Yokohama, though, it is eighty miles away. 

As we steam northward other peaks come into 
view, one after another, until the whole Cascade 
Range is visible, half a hundred and more in 
number. 

The summit of Tacoma is not absolutely inac- 
cessible. A dozen daring and hardy climbers have 
accomplished the ascent first and last ; but it in- 
volves a degree of labor and the encountering of 
serious dangers which have thus far rendered it 
a task rarely achieved. Many have attempted to 
scale these lonely heights, and many have given 
up exhausted, glad to return alive from this peril- 
ous experience between earth and sky. Members 
of various Alpine clubs cross the Atlantic to climb 
inferior elevations. Let such Americans test their 
athletic capacity and indulge their ambition by 
overcoming the difficult ascent of Tacoma. 

Port Townsend is finally reached, — the port of 
entry for Puget Sound district and the gateway 
of this great body of inland water. Tacoma, 
Seattle, and Port Townsend are all lively con- 
testants for supremacy on Puget Sound. The 



82 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

business part of Port Townsend is situated at the 
base of a bluff which rises sixty feet above the 
sea level, upon the top of which the dwelling- 
houses have been erected, and where a marine 
hospital flies the national flag. To live in com- 
fort here it would seem to be necessary for each 
family to possess a balloon, or that a big public 
lift should be established to take the inhabitants 
of the town from one part to the other. It is 
rapidly growing, — street grading and building 
of stores and dwelling-houses going on in its sev- 
eral sections. Vancouver named the place after 
his distinguished patron, the Marquis of Town- 
shend. We were told that over two thousand 
vessels enter and clear at the United States cus- 
tom-house here annually, besides which there are 
at least a thousand which pass in and out of the 
sound under coasting licenses, and are not in- 
cluded in this aggregate. The collections of the 
district average one thousand dollars for each 
working day of the year. 

Port Townsend is nine hundred miles from San 
Francisco by sea, and thirty-five hundred miles, 
in round numbers, from Boston or New York. 
It is the first port from the Pacific Ocean, and 
the nearest one to British Columbia, besides be- 
ing the natural outfitting port for Alaska. We 
were surprised to learn the extent of maritime 
business done here, and that in the number of 
American steam vessels engaged in foreign trade 
it stands foremost in all the United States. Its 
climate is said to be more like that of Italy than 



PORT TOWNSEND. 83 

any other part of America. The place is cer- 
tainly remarkable for salubrity and healtbfulness, 
and is universally commended by persons who 
have had occasion to remain there for any consid- 
erable period. The view from the upper part of 
the town is very comprehensive, including Mount 
Baker on one side and the Olympic Range on the 
other, while the far-away silver cone of Mount 
Tacoma is also in full view. The busy waters 
of the sound are constantly changing in the view 
presented, various craft passing before the eye 
singly and in groups. Long lines of smoke trail 
after the steamers, whose turbulent wakes are 
crossed now and then by some dancing egg-shell 
canoe or a white-winged, graceful sailboat bend- 
ing to the breeze. 

Certain custom-house formalities having been 
duly complied with, we continued on our course, 
bearing more to the westward, crossing the Strait 
of Juan de Fuca, bound for Victoria, the capital 
of Vancouver Island and of British Columbia, at 
which interesting place we land for a brief so- 
journ. To the westward the port looks out 
through the Strait of Fuca to the Pacific, south- 
ward into Puget Sound, and eastward beyond the 
Gulf of Georgia to the mainland. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Victoria, Vancouver's Island. — Esquimalt. — Chinamen. — Re- 
markable Flora. — Suburbs of the Town. — Native Tribes. — 
Cossacks of the Sea. — Manners and Customs. — The Early 
Discoverer. — Sailing in the Inland Sea. — Excursionists. — 
Mount St. Elias. — Mount Fairweather. — A Mount Olympus. 
— Seymour Narrows. — Night on the Waters. — A Touch of 
the Pacific. 

The city of Victoria contains twelve thousand 
inhabitants, more or less, and is situated just sev- 
enty miles from the mainland ; but beyond the 
fact that it is a naval station, commanding the en- 
trance to the British possessions from the Pacific, 
we see nothing to conduce to the future growth of 
Victoria beyond that of any other place on the 
sound. The aspect is that of an old, steady-going, 
conservative town, undisturbed by the bustle, ac- 
tivit}^ and business life of such places as Tacoma 
and Seattle. Vancouver, on the opposite shore, 
being the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
way, bids fair to soon exceed it in business impor- 
tance, though it has to-day less than ten thousand 
inhabitants. The population of Victoria is highly 
cosmopolitan in its character, being of American, 
French, German, English, Spanish, and Chinese 
origin. Of the latter there are fully three thou- 
sand. They are the successful market-gardeners 
of Victoria, a position they fill in many of the 



VICTORIA. 85 

English colonies of the Pacific, also performing the 
public laundry work here, as we find them doing 
in so many other places. In the hotels they are 
employed as house-servants, cooks, and waiters. 
Yet every Chinaman who lands here, the same as 
in Australia and New Zealand, is compelled to pay 
a tax of fifty dollars entrance fee. The surprise is 
that such an arbitrary rule does not act as a bar 
to Asiatic immigration ; but it certainly does not 
have that effect, while it yields quite a revenue 
to the local treasury. At most ports the importa- 
tion or landing of Chinese women is forbidden, 
but some of the gayest representatives of the sex 
are to be seen in the streets of Victoria, with bare 
heads, having their intensely black hair, shining 
with grease, dressed in large puffs. The heavy 
Canton silks in which they are clothed indicate 
that they have plenty of money. They affect 
gaudy colors, and wear heavy jade ear-rings, with 
breastpins of the same stone set in gold. The 
lewd character of the Chinese women who leave 
their native land in search of foreign homes is so 
well known as to fully warrant the prohibition rel- 
ative to their landing in American or British ports. 
The effort to exclude them is, however, not infre- 
quently a failure, as with a trifling disguise male 
and female look so much alike as to deceive an 
ordinary observer. The Asiatics are up to all 
sorts of tricks to evade what they consider arbi- 
trary laws. 

Officially Victoria is English, but in population 
it is anything else rather than English. Until 



86 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

1858 it was only a small trading station belonging 
to the Hudson Bay Company ; but in that year 
the discovery of gold on the bar of the Fraser 
River and elsewhere in the vicinity caused a great 
influx of miners and prospectors, mostly from Cal- 
ifornia, and it was this circumstance which gave 
the place a business start and large degree of im- 
portance. The houses are many of them built of 
stone and bricks, the gardens being also neatly 
inclosed. The streets are macadamized and kept 
in excellent order. The city is lighted by electric 
lamps placed on poles over a hundred feet high, 
and has many modern improvements designed to 
benefit the people at large, including large public 
buildings and a fine opera house. 

The harbor of Victoria is small, and has only 
sufficient depth to accommodate vessels drawing 
eighteen feet of water ; but near at hand is a sec- 
ond harbor, known as Esquimalt, with sufficient 
depth for all practical purposes. If quiet is an 
element of charm, then Victoria is charming ; but 
we must add that it is also rather sleepy and tame. 
It might be centuries old, everything moving, as 
it does, in grooves. Business people get to their 
offices at about ten o'clock in the morning, and 
leave them by three in the afternoon. There is no 
evidence here of the fever of living, no symptom 
of the go-ahead spirit which actuates their Yankee 
neighbors across the sound. 

Esquimalt is situated but three or four miles 
from Victoria, and is the headquarters of the Eng- 
lish Pacific squadron, where two or three British 



ESQUIMALT. 87 

men-of-war are nearly always to be seen in the 
harbor, and where there is also a very capacious 
dry-dock and a naval arsenal. At the time of our 
visit a couple of swift little torpedo-boats were 
exercising about the harbor and the sound. The 
well-wooded shore is dressed in " Lincoln green," 
far more tropical than boreal. The many pleas- 
ing residences are surrounded with pretty garden- 
plots, and flowers abound. We have rarely seen so 
handsome an array of cultivated roses as were found 
here. So equable is the climate that these flowers 
bloom all the year round. A macadamized road 
connects Esquimalt with Victoria, running be- 
tween fragrant hedges, past charming cottages, 
and through delightful pine groves. We see here 
a flora of great variety and attractiveness, which 
could not exist in this latitude without an unusu- 
ally high degree of temperature, accompanied with 
a great condensation of vapor and precipitation of 
rain. Victoria is admirably situated, with the sea 
on three sides and a background of high-rolling 
hills, and also enjoys an exceptionally good cli- 
mate, almost entirely devoid of extremes. 

The suburbs are thickly wooded, where palm- 
like fern-trees a dozen feet high, and in great 
abundance, recalled specimens of the same family, 
hardly more thrivingly developed, which the writer 
has seen in the islands of the South Pacific. The 
wild rose-bushes were overburdened with their 
wealth of fragrant bloom ; we saw them in June, 
the favorite month of this queen of flowers. No 
wonder that Marchand, the old French voyager, 



88 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

when he found himself here on a soft June day, 
nearly a century ago, amid the annual carnival of 
flowers, compared these fields to the rose-colored 
and perfumed slopes of Bulgaria. If the reader 
should ever come to this charming spot in the far 
Northwest, it is the author's hope that he may see 
it beneath just such mellow summer sunshine as 
glows about us while we record these pleasant im- 
pressions in the queen-month of roses. Gluti- 
nously rich vines of various-colored honeysuckles 
were draped about the porticoes of the dwellings, 
whence they hung with a self-conscious grace, as 
though they realized how much beauty they im- 
parted to the surroundings. The drone of bees 
and swift-winged humming-birds were not want- 
ing, and the air was laden with their delicious per- 
fume. The wild syringas, which in a profusion of 
snow-white blossoms lined the shaded roads here 
and there, were as fragrant as orange-blossoms, 
which, indeed, they much resemble. The air was 
also heavy with a dull, sweet smell of mingled 
blossoms, among which was the tall, graceful spi- 
rea with its cream-colored flowers, so thickly set 
as to hide the leaves and branches. The maple 
leaves are twice the usual size, and fruit-trees bend 
to the very ground with their wealth of pears, 
apples, and peaches. The alders, like the ferns, 
assume the size of trees, and cultivated flowers 
grow to astonishing proportions and beauty. The 
bark-shedding arbutus was noticeable for its pe- 
culiar habit, and its bare, salmon-colored trunk 
contrasting with its neighbors. 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 89 

A portion of the site of Victoria is set aside as 
a reservation, and named Beacon Hill Park, con- 
taining choice trees and pleasant paths bordered 
with delicate shrubbery. But the whole place is 
park-like in its attractive picturesqueness. In the 
interior of the island there is said to be plenty of 
game, such as elk and red deer, foxes and beaver. 
These forests are dense and scarcely explored ; 
sportsmen do not have to penetrate them far to 
find an abundance of game, so that in the open 
season venison is abundant and cheap in the town. 

British Columbia, of which this city is the 
capital, embraces all that portion of North Amer- 
ica lying north of the United States and west of 
the Rocky Mountains to the Alaska line. Its 
area is three hundred and forty thousand square 
miles, and it certainly possesses more intrinsic 
wealth than any other portion of the Dominion, 
except the eastern cities of Canada. It is but 
sparsely settled, and its natural resources are 
quite undeveloped. 

The well-constructed roads in and about Vic- 
toria give it an advantage over most newly set- 
tled places, and the idea is worthy of all com- 
mendation. The seaward, or western shore of 
Vancouver, overlooking the North Pacific is very 
rocky, and is indented by frequent arms of the 
sea, like the fjords of Scandinavia, while the sur- 
face of the island is generally mountainous. 

The Haidas and the Timplons are the two na- 
tive tribes of Vancouver, who are represented to 
have once been very numerous, brave, and warlike. 



90 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Some of their canoes were eighty feet long, and 
most substantially constructed, being capable of 
carrying seventy-five fighting men, with their 
bows, arrows, spears, and shields of thick wal- 
rus hide. These war-boats were made from the 
trunk of a single tree, shaped and hollowed in fine 
nautical lines, so as to make them swift and buoy- 
ant, as well as quite safe in these inland waters. 
In these frail craft the natives were perfectly at 
home, and excited the admiration of the early 
navigators by the skill they displayed in managing 
them, so that Admiral Liitke named them the 
" Cossacks of the Sea." 

But the Haidas, like the tribes of the Aleutian 
islands and the Alaska groups generally, have 
rapidly dwindled into insignificance — slowly fad- 
ing away. People who subsist on fish and oil as 
staples can hardly be expected to evince much 
enterprise or industry. It cannot be denied, how- 
ever, that as a race they appear much more in- 
telligent and self-reliant than the aborigines of 
our Western States. Vincent Colyer, special 
Indian commissioner, says with regard to the 
natives of the southern part of Alaska and the 
Alexander Archipelago : " I do not hesitate to say 
that if three fourths of these Alaska Indians were 
landed in New York as coming from Europe, they 
would be selected as among the most intelligent 
of the many worthy emigrants who daily arrive 
at that port." 

When these islands were first discovered by the 
whites, the native tribes occupying them w r ere 



NATIVE TRIBES. 91 

almost constantly at war one with another. The 
different tribes even to-day show no sympathy for 
each other, nor will they admit that they are of 
the same origin. Each has some theory of its ex- 
clusiveness and independence, all of which is a 
puzzle to ethnologists. 

There seems never to have been any union of 
interest entertained among them. Before and 
after the advent of the Russians tribal wars raged 
among them incessantly. Blood was the only 
recognized atonement for offenses, and must be 
washed out by blood ; thus vengeance was kept 
alive, and civil war was endless. Bancroft in 
his " Native Races of the Pacific " tells us that 
the Aleuts are still fond of pantomimic perform- 
ances ; of representing in dances their myths and 
their legends ; of acting out a chase, one assum- 
ing the part of hunter, another of a bird or beast 
trying to escape the snare, now succeeding, now 
failing, until finally a captive bird is transformed 
into an attractive woman, who falls exhausted into 
the hunter's arms. 

With well-screened foot-lights, verdant woodland 
surroundings, characters assumed by a trained bal- 
let troupe, framed in the usual proscenium boxes, 
with orchestra in front, this would be a fitting en- 
tertainment for a first-class Boston or New York 
audience. 

The Indians, or portions of the native race, seen 
in and about the streets of Victoria are of the 
most squalid character, dirty and unintelligent, 
being altogether repulsive to look upon. 



92 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

The Indians of the west coast of the island are 
brought less in contact with the whites, and still 
keep up to a certain extent their native manners 
and customs, wearing fewer garments of civili- 
zation, and being satisfied with a single blanket 
as a covering during some portions of the year. 
They are fond of wearing curiously carved wooden 
masks at all their festivals, — some representing 
the head of a bear, some that of a huge bird, and 
others forming exaggerated human faces. There 
seems to be a spirit of caricature prevailing among 
them, as it does among the Chinese and Japanese. 

These Vancouver aborigines have an original 
and extraordinary method of expressing their 
warm regard for each other, in isolated districts 
where they are quite by themselves. When they 
meet, instead of grasping hands or embracing, 
they bite each other's shoulders, and the scars 
thus produced are regarded with considerable sat- 
isfaction by the recipient. Their sacred rites are 
sanguinary, and their notions of religion are of a 
vague and incomprehensible kind. They believe 
in omens and sorcery, suffering as much from fear 
of supernatural evil as the most benighted Afri- 
can tribes. The west coast of Vancouver is nearly 
always bleak ; the great waves of the North Pa- 
cific breaking upon it, even in quiet weather, with 
fierce grandeur, roaring sullenly among the rocks 
and caves. 

The distant view from the eastern side of Van- 
couver is of a most charming character, embracing 
the blue Olympic range of mountains in the State 



VAN CO UVER. 93 

of Washington, whose heads are turbaned with 
snow, while the lofty undulating peaks, taken en 
masse, resemble the fiercely agitated waves of the 
sea ; a view which vividly recalled the Bernese 
Alps as seen from the city of Berne. 

Vancouver is the largest island on the Pacific 
coast, and is well diversified with mountains, val- 
leys, and long stretches of low pleasant shore. 
Its name commemorates that of one of the world's 
great explorers. Vancouver had served, previous 
to these notable explorations, as an officer under 
Captain Cook for two long and eventful voyages, 
and was thus well fitted for a discoverer and pio- 
neer. He made a careful survey of Puget Sound 
with all of its channels, inlets, and bays, and wrote 
a faithful description of the coast of the mainland 
as well as of the islands. Though this was about 
a century ago, so faithfully did he perform his 
work that his charts are still regarded as good au- 
thority, though not absolutely perfect. 

That practical seaman, in his sailing-ship, puts 
us to shame with all our science and steam facili- 
ties as regards surveys of this complicated region. 
The coast survey organization of the United States 
has done little more than to corroborate a portion 
of Vancouver's work. It is surprising that the 
government should neglect to properly explore 
and define by maps the islands, channels, and 
straits of the North Pacific coast. Notwithstand- 
ing our boasted enterprise, we are behind every 
power of Europe in these maritime matters. 

The island of Vancouver has an area of eighteen 



94 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

thousand square miles, and is therefore larger than 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and 
Delaware combined. It is only by these familiar 
comparisons that we can hope to convey clearly 
to the mind of the average reader such statistical 
facts, and cause them to be remembered. 

Reference has been made to the favorable cli- 
mate of Victoria. We should state that the maxi- 
mum summer temperature is 84° Fah., and the 
minimum of the year is 22°. 

From here our course lies in a northwest di- 
rection, leading through the broad Gulf of Geor- 
gia, which separates Vancouver from British Co- 
lumbia. The magnificent ermine -clad head of 
Mount Baker is seen, for many hours, to the east 
of our course, looming far, far above the clouds, 
and radiating the glowing beauty of the sunset, 
which happened to be exceptionally fine at the 
close of our first day out from Victoria. The 
atmosphere, sea, and horizon were all the color 
of gold. The surface of the water was unbroken 
by a ripple, while it flashed in opaline variety the 
brilliant hues of the evening hour. The grand 
scenery which we encounter foreshadows the char- 
acter of the voyage of a thousand miles, more or 
less, northward, to the locality of the great gla- 
ciers, forming a vast interior line of navigation 
unequaled elsewhere for bold shores, depth of 
water, numberless bays, and inviting harbors. 
The course is bordered for most of the distance 
with continuous forests, distinctly reflected in the 
placid surface of these straits and sounds. At 



SAN JUAN. 95 

times the passage, perhaps not more than a mile 
in width, is lined on either side with mountains 
of granite, whose dizzy heights are capped with 
snow, up whose precipitous sides spruce and pine 
trees struggle for a foothold, and clinging there 
thrive strangely upon food afforded by stones 
and atmospheric air. Occasionally we pass some 
deep, dark fjord, which pierces the mountains far 
inland, presenting mysterious and unexplored vis- 
tas. We come upon the island of San Juan, not 
long after leaving Victoria, which was for a con- 
siderable period a source of serious contention 
between England and America, the ownership 
being finally settled by arbitration, and awarded 
to us by the late Emperor of Germany. San Juan 
is remarkable for producing limestone in suffi- 
cient quantity to keep scores of lime-kilns occu- 
pied for a hundred years. The island was only 
important to us by its position, and as establish- 
ing certain boundary lines. 

Now and again smoke is seen winding up- 
wards from some rude but comfortable cabin on 
the shore, where a white settler and his Indian 
wife live in semi-civilized style. A rude garden 
patch adjoins the cabin, carpeted with thriving 
root crops, bordered by currant and gooseberry 
bushes, while numerous wooden frames are reared 
close by on which to dry salmon, cod, and hali- 
but for winter use. Three or four half-breed 
children, with a marvelous wealth of hair, and 
clothed in a single garment reaching to the 
knees, watch us with open eyes and mouths as 



96 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

we glide along the smooth water-way. At last 
the father's attention is called to us by the excla- 
mations of the papooses, and he waves us a sa- 
lute with his slouchy fur cap. It is only a little 
spot on the lonely shore, but it is all the world to 
the squatter and his brood. One pauses mentally 
for an instant to contrast this type of lonely ex- 
istence with the fierce and furious tide of life 
which exists in populous cities. Steamers, sailing 
craft, or native canoes have no storms to encoun- 
ter here ; the course is almost wholly sheltered, 
while coal or wood can be procured at nearly any 
place where the steamer chooses to stop. The 
fierce swell of the Pacific, so very near at hand, 
is completely warded off by the broad and beauti- 
ful islands of Vancouver, Queen Charlotte, Prince 
of Wales, BaranofT, and Chichagoff, which form 
a matchless panorama as they slowly pass, day 
after day, clad in thrifty verdure, before the eyes 
of the delighted voyager. Throughout so many 
hours of close observation one never wearies of 
the charming scene. 

The trip between Victoria and Pyramid Har- 
bor, in many of its features, recalls the voyage 
from Tromsbe, on the coast of Norway, to the 
North Cape, where the traveler beholds the grand 
phenomenon of the midnight sun, — passing over 
deep, still waters, winding through groups of 
lovely islands, covered with primeval forests and 
veined with minerals, amidst the grandest of 
Alpine scenery, where the nearer mountain peaks 
are clad in misty purple and those far away 



THE INLAND SEA. 97 

are wrapped in snow shrouds, where signs of hu- 
man life are seldom seen, and the deep silence 
of the passage is broken only by the shrill cry of 
some wandering sea-bird. In both of these north- 
ern regions, situated in opposite hemispheres, 
grand mountains, volcanic peaks, and mammoth 
glaciers form the guiding landmarks. The gla- 
ciers of Alaska are not only many times as large 
as anything of the sort in Switzerland, but they 
have the added charm of the ever-changing beau- 
ties of the sea, thus altogether forming scenery 
of peculiar and incomparable grandeur. One of- 
ten finds examples of the Scotch and Italian lakes 
repeated again and again on this inland voyage, 
where the delightful tranquillity of the waters so 
adds to the appearance of profound depth. It re- 
quires but little stretch of the imagination to be- 
lieve one's self upon the Lake of Como or Lake 
Maggiore. 

The enjoyment afforded to the intelligent tour- 
ist on this delightful route of travel is being more 
and more appreciated annually, as clearly evinced 
by the fact that over two thousand excursionists 
participated in the trips of steamers from Puget 
Sound to Sitka last year, by way of Glacier Bay 
and Pyramid Harbor, representing nearly every 
State in the Union, and also embracing many 
European travelers. " 1 thought it would be as 
cold as Greenland," said one of these tourists to 
us; "but after leaving Port Townsend I hardly 
once had occasion to wear my overcoat, night or 
day, during the whole of the fourteen days' sum- 



98 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

mer voyage through Alaska's Inland Sea. The 
thermometer ranged between 68° and 78° during 
the whole trip, while the pleasant daylight never 
quite faded out of the sky." 

Mount St. Elias, inexpressibly grand in its pro- 
portions, is probably the highest mountain in 
Alaska, and, indeed, is one of the half dozen lofti- 
est peaks on the globe, reaching the remarkable 
height of nearly twenty thousand feet, according 
to the United States Coast Survey. It may fall 
short of, or it may exceed, this measurement by a 
few hundred feet. Owing to the low point to 
which the line of perpetual snow descends in this 
latitude, St. Elias is believed to present the great- 
est snow climb of all known mountains. Another 
notable peculiarity of this grand elevation is, like 
that of Tacoma, in its springing at once from the 
level of the Pacific Ocean, whereas most moun- 
tains, like those of Colorado, Norwa} 7 , and Switz- 
erland, say of twelve or fourteen thousand feet in 
height, rise from a plain already two or three 
thousand feet above sea level, detracting just so 
much from their effectiveness upon the eye, and 
from their apparent elevation. Vitus Behring, a 
Dane by birth and the discoverer of the strait 
which bears his name, first sighted this mountain 
on St. Elias' day, and so gave it the name which 
it bears. When the American whalemen on the 
coast saw the summit of Mount Fairweather from 
the sea, they felt sure that some days of fair 
weather would follow, hence we have the expres- 
sive name which is bestowed upon it. Mount St. 



MOUNT FAIRWEATHER. 99 

Elias, with its snow and ice mantle reaching nearly 
down to sea level, is higher than any elevation in 
Norway or Switzerland, rising from its base in 
pyramid form, straight, regular, and massive, to 
three times the height of our New England giant 
in the White Mountain range of New Hampshire, 
namely, Mount Washington. Only the Hima- 
layas and the Andes exceed it in altitude. Eleven 
glaciers are known to come down from the south 
side of St. Elias, one of which, named Agassiz 
Glacier, is estimated to be twenty miles in width 
and fifty in length, covering an area of a thou- 
sand square miles ! 

Fair weather is situated about two hundred miles 
southeast of Mount St. Elias, its hoary head being 
often visible a hundred miles and more at sea; 
rising above the fogs and clouds, its summit is 
recognizable while all other land is far below 
the horizon. We were told that when the earth- 
quake occurred at Sitka in 1847, this mountain 
emitted huge volumes of smoke and vapor. The 
force of volcanic action in Alaska is, however, 
evidently diminishing, though occasional slight 
shocks of earthquakes are experienced, especially 
on the outlying islands of the Aleutian group 
and near the mouth of Cook's Inlet. 

Besides these loftiest mountains named, — 
" Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads 
touch heaven," — Mount Cook, Mount Crillon, 
and Mount Wrangel should not be forgotten. 
Lieutenant H. T. Allen, U. S. A., makes the height 
of the latter exceed that of Mount St. Elias, but 



100 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

we think it very questionable. This officer's state- 
ment that Mount Wrangel is the birthplace of 
some of the largest glaciers known to exist seems 
much more likely to be correct. In this region, 
therefore, this far northwest territory of the 
United States, we find the highest elevations on 
the North American continent. The mountain 
ranges of California and Montana unite with the 
Rocky Mountains, and turning to the south and 
west form the Alaska Peninsula, finally disappear- 
ing in the North Pacific, except where a high 
peak appears now and then, raising its rocky crest 
above the sea, like a giant standing breast-high 
in the ocean, and thus they form the Aleutian 
chain of treeless islands, which stretch away west- 
ward towards the opposite continent. That these 
islands are all connected beneath the sea, from 
Attoo, the most distant, to where they join the 
Alaska Peninsula, is made manifest by the exhibi- 
tion of volcanic sympathy. When one of the lofty 
summits emits smoke or fiery debris the others are 
similarly affected, or at least experience slight 
shocks of earthquake. So the several islands 
which form the Hawaiian group are believed to be 
joined below the ocean depths, and several, if not 
all, of the islands of the West Indies are con- 
sidered to be similiarly connected. 

This has been in some period, long ago, a very 
active volcanic region, as the lofty peaks, both 
among the Aleutian Islands and on the mainland, 
which emit more or less smoke and ashes, clearly 
testify ; not only suggestive of the past, but sig- 



TEXADA. 101 

nificant of possible contingencies in the future. 
There are, in fact, according to the best authori- 
ties, sixty-one volcanic peaks in Alaska. One of 
the extinct volcanoes near Sitka, Mount Edge- 
combe, according to the Coast Pilot, has a dimen- 
sion at the ancient crater of two thousand feet 
across, and an elevation of over three thousand 
feet above the sea. The depth of the crater is 
said to be three hundred feet. From the top, 
radiating downwards in singular regularity, are the 
deep red gorges scored by the burning lava in its 
fiery course, as thrown out of the crater less than 
a hundred years ago. 

This is a Mount Olympus for the natives, about 
which many ancient myths are told by these im- 
aginative aborigines. 

For more than twenty-four hours after sailing 
from Victoria the irregular, kelp-fringed shore of 
Vancouver, which is three hundred miles long, is 
seen on our left, until presently the largo, iron- 
bearing island of Texada, with its tall summit, 
appears on the right of our course. The magnetic 
ore found here in abundance is of such purity as 
to render it suitable for the manufacture of the 
highest grade of steel, and it is shipped to the 
furnaces at Seattle and elsewhere for this purpose. 

It is found in pursuing the vo} 7 age northward 
that the fierce tide-way prevailing in some of the 
deep, narrow channels produces such turbulent 
rapids that steamers are obliged to wait for a 
favorable condition of the waters before attempt- 
ing their passage, as the adverse current runs at 



102 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

the rate of nine miles an hour. This was espe- 
cially the case in the Seymour Narrows, which is 
about nine hundred yards wide, and situated at 
no great distance from Nanaimo, in the Gulf of 
Georgia. It is a far more tumultuous water-way, 
at certain stages of the tide — which has a rise 
and fall of thirteen feet — than the famous Mael- 
strom on the coast of Norway. The latter is also 
caused by the power of the wind and tide, though 
it was long held as the mj^stery and terror of the 
ocean. 

The author remembers in his school geography 

a crude woodcut, which depicted a ship being 

drawn by some mysterious power into a gaping 

vortex of the ocean, and already half submerged. 

It was intended to represent the terrible perils of 

passing too near the Maelstrom, off the Lofoden 

Islands. In after years he sailed quietly across 

this once dreaded spot in the North Sea, without 

experiencing even an extra lurch of the ship. 

Thus do the marvels and terrors of youth melt 

away. Travel and experience make great havoc 

/ in the wonderland of our credulity, and yet modern 

/ discovery outdoes in reality the miracles of the 

/ past. 

A powerful steamer which attempted to pass 
through the Seymour Narrows at an unfavorable 
state of the water, last season, was unable to 
make way against the current, and came near 
being wrecked. By crowding on all steam she 
succeeded in holding her position until the wa- 
ters subsided, though she made no headway for 



NANAIMO. 103 

two hours. It was here that the United States 
steamer Saranac was lost a few years since, being 
caught at disadvantage in the seething waters, 
and forced upon the mid-channel rocks. Her 
hull now lies seventy fathoms below the surface of 
the sea. Since this event took place the United 
States ship Suwanee struck on an unknown rock 
farther north, and was also totally wrecked. Per- 
haps after a few more national vessels are lost 
in these channels our government will awaken 
from its lethargy, and have a proper survey 
made and reliable charts issued of this important 
coast and its intricate water-ways. A single ves- 
sel is now engaged in this survey, but half a 
dozen should be employed in Alaskan waters. 
Nanaimo is situated on the east side of Vancou- 
ver Island, seventy miles from Victoria, with 
which it is connected by railroad. It is a thrifty 
little town, mainly supported by the coal interest, 
though there are two or three manufacturing es- 
tablishments. The extensive coal mines in its 
neighborhood are of great value, and are con- 
stantly worked. These coal deposits are of the 
bituminous sort, particularly well adapted for 
steamboat use, and are so situated as to facilitate 
the growing commerce of these islands. Many 
thousands of tons are shipped during the summer 
months to San Francisco. We are told that it 
cost the proprietors of these coal mines one dollar 
and a half a ton to place the product on board 
steamers, which on arriving at San Francisco 
fetches from twelve to fifteen dollars per ton. 



104 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

There are five mines worked here, giving employ- 
ment to some two thousand men, who receive 
two dollars and a half per day as laborers. 

There is not a lighthouse upon any headland 
amid all of these meandering channels, though it 
must be admitted that navigation is rarely im- 
peded for want of light in summer, as one can see 
to read common print at midnight upon the ship's 
deck without artificial aid any time during the 
traveling or excursion season of the year. 

Now and again we look ahead inquiringly as we 
thread the labyrinth of islands and wonder how 
egress is possible from the many mountainous cliffs 
rising, sullen and frowning, directly in the steam- 
er's course. The exit from this maze is quite in- 
visible ; but presently there is a swift turn of the 
wheel, the rudder promptly responds, and we 
gracefully round a projecting point into another 
lonely, far-reaching channel framed hy granite 
peaks a thousand feet in height. 

At night, when all but the watch were sleep- 
ing, how gaunt and weird stood forth those tall, 
black sentinel rocks, past which we were gliding 
so silently, while overhead was spread the broad 
firmanent of space, dimly lighted by heaven's dis- 
tant lamps ! How suggestive the dark, myste- 
rious shadows ! how active the imagination ! Was 
the atmosphere indeed peopled with the invisible 
spirits of bygone ages? Did the air- waves vibrate 
with the history of the long, long past, the un- 
known story of these silent fjords and deep water 
gorges? Is it only thousands, or tens of thou- 



THE GULF OF GEORGIA. 105 

sands, of years since the first human beings ap- 
peared and disappeared among these now wild, 
untrodden shores? 

The inlets which are found at the head of the 
Gulf of Georgia, northeast of Vancouver Island, 
are miniature Norwegian fjords, deeper and darker 
than the sombre Saguenay ; a hundred and eighty 
fathoms of line will not reach the bottom. They 
are from forty to sixty miles in length, with an 
average width of nearly two miles, being walled 
by abrupt mountains from four to seven thousand 
feet in height. A grand elevation, whose name 
has escaped us, stands eight thousand feet above 
the sea at the head of Butte Inlet, while Mount 
Alfred, at the head of Jarvis Inlet, is still higher. 
A remarkable feature of these elongated arms of 
the sea is their great depth, some of them meas- 
uring over three hundred fathoms. It is a popu- 
lar idea that the phosphorescence of the sea is 
exhibited in its strongest effect in the tropics ; 
but we have seen in the Gulf of Georgia, after 
sunset, so brilliant an illumination from this cause 
that it was only comparable to liquid fire, quite 
equal in intensity to anything the author has wit- 
nessed in the Indian Ocean or the Caribbean Sea. 
It is impossible to convey by the pen an idea of the 
novel splendor of the scene. A drop of this flame- 
like water, dipped from the sea in equatorial or 
Arctic waters and placed under the microscope is 
found to be teeming with the most curious living 
and active organisms. These myriads of tiny 
creatures are so minute that, were it not for the 



106 



THE NEW ELDORADO. 



A 



^ 



revelations of the microscope, we should not even 
know of their existence. Nor are these infini- 
tesimal objects the smallest representatives of ani- 
mal life ; glasses of greater power will show still 
more diminutive creatures. 

Persons who are accustomed to make sea-voy- 
ages do not forget to supply themselves with a 
good but inexpensive microscope, for use on ship- 
board. The abundant specimens of minute ani- 
mal and vegetable life which the sea affords, 
form a source of instructive amusement by which 
many otherwise monotonous hours are pleasantly 
beguiled. A little familiarity with the instru- 
ment enables one to profitably entertain a whole 
ship's company with its powers. 

In the region between Vancouver and Queen 
Charlotte Island we cross an open reach of the sea, 
and while the Pacific sw r ell tosses us about after 
the usual erratic fashion of its unpacific waters, 
we observe a few ocean sights which serve pleas- 
antly to vary the experience of the trip. A school 
of humpback whales put in an appearance, full of 
sport and frolic^ in such extraordinary numbers 
that three or four are seen in the act of spouting 
all the while. In spots the sea is yellow, where 
its surface is covered for acres together with that 
animated food for other piscatory creatures, the 
jelly-fish. The shining, furry head of a sea-lion 
comes up to the surface now and again, gazing 
curiously at us with big, glassy eyes, and turning 
its face nimbly from side to side. A school of 
porpoises play about the hull of the steamer, leap- 



ON THE PACIFIC. 107 

ing high out of the water and falling back again 
in graceful curves. The only shark we chanced 
to meet with on the entire voyage was observed 
in our wake just before entering Smith's Sound, 
south of Calvert Island. In this region the huge 
gona-bird was seen sailing slowly on the wing, re- 
calling the albatross of the low latitudes in its 
long, lazy sweeps, as well as by its size and grace- 
fulness. These bird-monarchs of the north meas- 
ure eight feet from tip to tip, and glide with or 
against the wind on their broad, outspread pin- 
ions without the least visible muscular exertion, 
a mystery of motive power which is sure to chal- 
lenge the observer's curiosity. 

In the narrow passages the tall peaks, arched 
by the soft gray of the clouds and the clear blue 
of the sky, cast deep shadows where the water 
looked like pools of ink, whose blackness intensi- 
fied the fact of their great but unknown depth. 

The American whalers have never been accus- 
tomed to seek their big game in these immediate 
waters, preferring to attack the leviathans in lesser 
depths, such as the waters of Behring Sea, or far- 
ther north in the vicinity of the strait, between 
the frozen ocean and the North Pacific. There, 
if a whale dove after being struck by the harpoon, 
he was sure very soon to fetch up in the muddy 
bottom ; but here, among the channels of the isl- 
ands, he might dive, and dive again, to almost any 
depth, and unless great care was taken he was lia- 
ble in his lightning-like velocity to carry down 
with him a whole boat's crew and all their be- 



108 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

longings. Were it not that the whaling industry- 
has gradually declined here, as it has done in 
all other sections of the globe, the possession of 
Alaska, with its great number of safe harbors, 
would be an invaluable boon to those of our coun- 
trymen engaged in that branch of commercial en- 
terprise. 

Inland sea travel is the perfection of steamboat- 
ing, but the rapidly-changing landscape of these 
wild Alaskan shores, rimmed with sharp volcanic 
peaks, at last wearies the senses, and one is forced 
to seek a brief intermission by finding rest in 
sleep, only, however, to again renew the charm 
with greater zest on the morrow. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Steamship Corona and her Passengers. — The New Eldorado. — 
The Greed for Gold. — Alaska the Synonym of Glacier Fields. 
— Vegetation of the Islands. — Aleutian Islands. — Attoo 
our most Westerly Possession. — Native Whalers. — Life on 
the Island of Attoo. — Unalaska — Kodiak, former Capital of 
Eussian America. — The Greek Church. — Whence the Na- 
tives originally came. 

Our journey through that portion of Alaska 
known as the Inland Sea was made in the steam- 
ship Corona, Captain Carroll, a commander who 
has had long experience in these waters. His 
pleasure seemed to lie in the degree of enjoy- 
ment which he could afford his passengers, and 
the amount of information which he was enabled 
to impart to them. There were on board the Co- 
rona the members of a large excursion party con- 
ducted by Raymond &> Whitcomb of Boston, 
numbering some eighty persons. We have rarely 
seen together a large party of ladies and gentle- 
men embracing so many cultured and agreeable 
persons. They had already occupied some weeks 
in a tour of Mexico and southern California. It 
was exceedingly pleasant to see the courtesy and 
consideration exercised among them towards each 
other, — amenities which go so far to lighten the 
inevitable inconveniences of travel, and to en- 
hance its enjoyments. Oftentimes friendships are 



110 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

formed under such circumstances which continue 
through every exigency to the very end of life. 

Having reached latitude 54° 40' (the fifty-four 
forty or fight of 1862), we come to the boundary 
line between British Columbia and the United 
States, Dixon Entrance being on the left and Fort 
Tongas on the right. Here the far-reaching Port- 
land Canal, or more properly channel, penetrates 
the mainland for a great distance, precisely like 
the Norwegian fjords, presenting, with its various 
arms, stupendous watery canons, whence arise 
mountain precipices thousands of feet high on 
either side of the deep narrow course, their heads 
shrouded in perpetual snow. This channel, or 
fjord, runs nearly due north, and forms a boundary 
line to its head between the English and United 
States possessions. 

Opposite and just south of Fort Tongas lies 
Fort Simpson, on British soil, and close at hand 
is Metla-katla, where that self-sacrificing mission- 
ary, Mr. Duncan, gathered and established a vil- 
lage of a thousand Christian residents from the 
various savage tribes of the vicinity. By his indi- 
vidual effort, with almost miraculous success, he 
raised from the lowest depths of barbarous life a 
law-abiding, religious, industrious, and self-sup- 
porting community, who justly considered him 
their moral and physical savior. Official persecu- 
tion drove Mr. Duncan from Metla-katla to the 
nearest available American island, namely, An- 
netta, lying some sixty miles northward. Eight 
hundred of these aborigines whom he had re- 



THE METLA-KATLA INDIANS. Ill 

claimed from savage life and its terrible practices 
have followed him with their families, freely aban- 
doning all their property and improvements at 
Metla-katla, and are now struggling to create for 
themselves a new and permanent home under the 
United States. 

The Senate committee, whose members lately 
visited Alaska, made a call at Annetta, and 
" found," as one of its members writes to the 
press, " the Indians living in an apparent condition 
of contentment, and engaged in almost all the pur- 
suits of the whites. Their execution of artistic 
designs upon silver wrought by themselves into 
bracelets, rings, and all kinds of jewelry is mar- 
velous. Baskets made in brilliant colors from 
stripped reeds constitute a beautiful and artistic 
employment of most of the women of the tribe. 
Their particular ambition is their anxiety to pos- 
sess lands in severalty, or to have certain parcels 
set aside for them, that they may cultivate and 
hold in individual right. They ask that the whole 
of G ravine Island be given to their tribe. They 
found the state of the morals of the Indian women 
at Annetta, or, as they call it, New Metla-katla, far 
above the average of Indian women of this Terri- 
tory. At Sitka the committee visited the habita- 
tions of the Indians, and learned much from per- 
sonal intercourse as to their habits and needs. It 
was found that the companionship and virtue of 
the women is a matter of simply dollars and cents, 
and not difficult to negotiate for." 

61 The committee were surprised to observe such 



112 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

an apparent freedom from rowdyism, quarrels, and 
disturbances of any character in any portion of the 
Territory, and remarked the entire absence of six- 
shooters about the person of a single individual, a 
feature always so prominent in the mining camps 
of the West." 

Until Alaska — The New Eldorado — came 
into our possession, it was from the persistent and 
adventurous fur-traders that our knowledge of the 
country was almost solely obtained. To most of 
the public it was (and is still to many) scarcely 
more than a geographical expression, occupying 
an insignificant space on the extreme northwest 
portion of the maps of North America, without any 
regard being paid to the scale on which the other 
States and Territories of the country are deline- 
ated. The fact nevertheless stares us in the face, 
that Alaska is nearly as large as the whole of the 
United States lying east of the Mississippi River, 
or three times as large as France. Within the last 
twenty years greater intelligence has been shown, 
in part through missionaries, — self-sacrificing and 
devout men, — who have sought by their teachings 
to abolish the wild superstitions of the natives, 
together with their cruel rites of Shamanism. Or- 
ganized companies of explorers, as well as enter- 
prising miners and prospectors, have also liberally 
furnished us with general information relating to 
this great outlying province, which has been found 
to be so full of mineral wealth and future promise. 
But so vast is the Territory, so varied the climate, 
and so undeveloped are the means of access to its 



AGENTS OF PROGRESS IN ALASKA. 113 

several parts, that our information as regards de- 
tail is still very meagre. There are not ten miles 
of roadway in all of Alaska outside of the island 
of Kodiak ; or rather, we should say, the island 
just opposite Kodiak, namely, Wood Island, which 
has a road constructed completely round it, cov- 
ering a dozen miles or thereabouts. The only 
road at Sitka is not over a mile and a half in 
length, and these two are the only ones in this 
vast Territory. Two objects of commercial gain, 
the profitable fur-trade and seeking for gold, have 
been the great agents of progress and development 
thus far in Alaska. In a like manner it was the 
greed for gold that first sent the Spaniards to Mex- 
ico and Peru ; in pursuit of the lucrative fur-traf- 
fic the French and Britons opened the way for 
civilization in Canada. Here in Alaska it will 
not be philanthropy, — some of whose noblest ex- 
ponents are upon the ground, — but self-interest; 
not government enterprise, but the seeking for 
precious metals, which will gradually unfold the 
great wealth and resources of this extensive prov- 
ince, whose area is greater than the thirteen orig- 
inal States of this Union. The hope of commer- 
cial gain has doubtless done nearly as much for 
the cause of truth and progress as the love of 
truth itself. The course of multitudes, guided by 
the natural instinct of selfishness, will be overruled 
by a higher power for the general good. 

The very name of Alaska has to the popular 
ear a ring of glacier fields and snow-clad peaks, 
conveying a frigid impression of the climate quite 



114 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

contrary to fact. The most habitable portions of 
the country lie between bb° and 60° north, about 
the same latitude as that of Scotland and south- 
ern Scandinavia, but the area of this portion of 
Alaska is greater than that of both these coun- 
tries combined. The name is derived from Al- 
ay-ck-sa, which was given to the mainland by 
the aborigines, and which signifies " great coun- 
try." On the old maps it is very properly desig- 
nated as Russian America, and so it really was 
until its transfer from the possession of that gov- 
ernment to our own. It was at the request of 
Charles Sumner, whose able, eloquent, and con- 
sistent advocacy did so much towards its acquire- 
ment, that the aboriginal title of Alaska was 
adopted. The portion of the country which is 
at present visited by excursionists is the south- 
eastern coast line and the archipelago of the Sit- 
kan Islands or Alexander group. If one desires 
to reach the vast country and islands lying to the 
west and northwest, the proper way to do so is 
to sail direct from San Francisco for Unalaska 
and Kodiak. The last named island lies south of 
Cook's Inlet, one of the most remarkable volcanic 
regions in the Territory. Sitka is five hundred 
and fifty miles to the eastward of Kodiak. Cook's 
Inlet is well named, as the great discoverer sailed 
to its very head in 1778, being the first white 
man who ever did so, and, indeed, few have done 
it since. This was while he was prosecuting his 
vain search for a northwest passage around the 
continent of America. The finest and largest 



DOMESTIC GARDENING IN KODIAK. 115 

salmon which were ever known are taken in 
Cook's Inlet, reaching the weight of one hundred 
pounds in some instances, and measuring six feet 
in length. The island of Kodiak is also famous 
for its excellent and abundant salmon fisheries. 

In 1874 a committee from the Icelandic resi- 
dents of Wisconsin, aided by our government, 
made an excursion to Alaska to determine whether 
it would be advisable to recommend their people 
in Iceland to seek homes in and about Kodiak. 
The report of this committee, which consisted of 
three experienced and intelligent men, was pub- 
lished from the government printing-office in 
Washington, and from it we quote as follows : — 

" Potatoes grow and do well, although the na- 
tives have not the slightest idea of how they 
should be cultivated, which goes to show they 
would thrive excellently if properly cared for. 
Cabbages, turnips, and the various garden vege- 
tables have great success, and to judge from the 
soil and climate there is no reason why everything 
that succeeds in Scotland should not succeed at 
Kodiak. Pasture land is so excellent on the 
island, and the hay harvest so abundant, that 
our countrymen would here, just as in Iceland, 
make sheep breeding and cattle-raising their chief 
method of livelihood. The quality of the grass 
is such that the milk, the beef, and mutton must 
be excellent ; and we had also an opportunity to 
try these at Kodiak." 

The purpose of colonizing portions of Alaska 
with people from Iceland is being revived, and 



Jr 



116 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

active measures to this end are now progressing. 
The people of that country are eager to avail 
themselves of such an opportunity. They are 
being gradually crowded out of their native land 
by the increased flow of volcanic matter over 
their plains and valleys. Alaska, while it affords 
them in certain portions, say the valley of the 
Yukon, a climate similar to their own, offers them 
also many advantages over the place of their 
nativity. It is authoritatively stated that over 
fifty thousand souls will gladly avail themselves of 
this chance to emigrate to Alaska, provided our 
government will aid them in the matter of trans- 
portation. At this writing, in the village of 
Afognak, on the island of Kodiak, with a popula- 
tion of three hundred natives, over one hundred 
acres of rich land is planted in potatoes and tur- 
nips, and has yielded annually a large crop of ex- 
cellent vegetables for three or four consecutive 
years. If it were necessary we could point to 
several other successful agricultural developments 
in islands even less favorably situated than is the 
Kodiak group. Nevertheless, there are plenty of 
writers who assert that domestic vegetables will 
not grow in Alaska. One has no patience with 
such perversion of facts. 

Miss Kate Field says in a late published article 
relative to Alaska : " In agriculture Alaska is not 
promising, but the country is by no means as 
impossible in this respect as it has been repre- 
sented. 4 There is not an acre of grain in the 
whole territory,' wrote Whymper. Be cause there 



ATTOO. 117 

was no grain grown, it by no means follows that 
grain cannot be grown in certain localities. Hun- 
dreds of acres of land near Wrangel can be drained 
and cultivated. The Indians on the neighboring 
islands raise tons of potatoes and turnips for their 
own consumption. Butter made for me by the 
Scotch housekeeper of Wrangel mission was a 
sweet boon, and proved that cows were a success 
in that region, and that dairies were a mere ques- 
tion of time." 

The island of the Aleutian group situated the 
farthest seaward is named Attoo, and forms the 
most westerly point of the possessions of the 
United States. This island is situated about 
seven thousand five hundred miles in a straight 
line from the eastern coast of Maine, and is a 
little over three thousand miles west of San Fran- 
cisco, making that city about the central point 
between the extreme east and west of this Union. 
It would be nearer, if one desired to reach Eng- 
land from Attoo, to continue his journey west- 
ward, rather than to travel east and cross the 
Atlantic. A few moments' examination of the 
globe or a good map of the world is especially 
desirable in this connection, and unless one is 
already familiar with this region will prove in- 
teresting and instructive. The Aleutian group, 
besides innumerable islets and rocks, contains 
over fifty islands exceeding three miles in length, 
seven of them being over forty miles long. Uni- 
mak, which is the largest, is over seventy miles 
long, with an average width of twenty. 



- 



118 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

It seems almost impossible to conceive of these 
islands having ever been densely populated, where 
human life is so sparsely represented to-day, and 
yet scientific investigation gives ample proof that 
j in the far past every cove and bay echoed to the 
cry of the successful otter hunter, and the beaches 
now lined with numberless bidarkas or native 
canoes. The mummies which W. H. Dall brought 
hence may have been ten centuries old. This 
able investigator tells us of ruined villages and 
deserted hearths, to be found in almost any 
sheltered cove or favorably situated upland. A 
few strokes of the pick and the spade is sure to 
unearth arrow-heads, stone axes, and chipped im- 
plements of flint, or perhaps even the singularly 
proportioned bones of a now extinct human race. 
Bones have been exhumed on these islands which 
have puzzled scientists to account for. 

When these islands were discovered by the 
Russians the inhabitants of Attoo were numer- 
ous, warlike, and brave, being well supplied with 
otter skins, and altogether were a self-reliant and 
thrifty tribe. Now the place contains but one 
small village, numbering about a hundred and 
twenty souls, situated on the south side of the 
island in a sheltered cove. 

There are residents living upon Attoo to-day 
who have in their time witnessed two wrecks of 
Japanese vessels upon their shores ; and who can 
say that Attoo was not originally peopled in this 
manner by Asiatics thousands of years ago? It 
was so late as 1861 that the last Japanese junk 



ATTO WHALERS. 119 

was stranded upon the island ; three of the Japa- 
nese sailors surviving were ultimately sent home 
by way of Siberia overland. 

The sea-otter has been driven from this im- 
mediate neighborhood bj too vigorous and indis- 
criminate pursuit, but the sea-lion, various water- 
fowls, and plenty of cod, halibut, and salmon still 
abound among these lonely islands of the North 
Pacific. Occasionally a dead whale is stranded 
on the shore, which is considered a cause for great 
rejoicing, every part of the animal being utilized 
by the natives. No matter how putrid the flesh 
may be, it is eagerly eaten by these people, both 
raw and cooked. When a school of whales appears 
in sight of these shores, the natives go out in their 
frail boats, and with lances so prepared as to work 
into the vitals of the big creatures, they pierce 
them in the most vulnerable places, leaving the 
animal to die where it will, and trusting to the 
currents to carry the body where they can reach 
it. To their lances there are securely attached 
inflated sealskin buoys, which render diving a 
very laborious exertion to the whales, and which 
aid finally in securing the carcass. In this way, 
it is said, the natives get one whale out of 
fifteen or twenty which they succeed in harpoon- 
ing. Whales, singular to say, are more esteemed 
as food by all the Alaskan shore tribes than any 
other product of the sea, or, in fact, any other sort 
of food. The securing of one is an event cele- 
brated with limitless feasting and rejoicing. A 
New England whale-ship captain told the writer 



120 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

that he had seen these natives cut long strips of 
blubber from the body of a stranded whale, which, 
had been so long dead that it was with difficulty- 
he could breathe the atmosphere to leeward of the 
carcass, and chew upon the same with the greatest 
relish until it had entirely disappeared down their 
throats, the oil dripping all the while in small 
streams from the corners of their mouths. This 
is not a practice confined to the Aleuts, but ex- 
tends throughout the several groups of islands, and 
is also a marked habit of the Eskimos proper, 
living both north and south of Behring Strait, and 
on the coast of the Polar Sea. 

" The natives would rather have a dead whale 
drift ashore," says Mr. George Wardman, United 
States Treasury agent in Alaska, "than to own 
the best crop of the biggest farm in the United 
States. Dead whale is a great blessing in the 
Aleutian part of our Alaska possessions, and agri- 
cultural products are but little sought after or 
valued. The dead whale may be so putrid that 
the effluvia arising from it will blacken the white 
paint of a vessel lying one hundred yards distant, 
but, all the same, the whale is a blessing." 

There is a variety store kept on Attoo by an 
agent of the Alaska Commercial Company, where 
the natives exchange their furs for tea, sugar, 
and hard biscuit, besides tobacco and a few fancy 
articles. 

The mountains which surround the settlement 
are two or three thousand feet in height, "rock- 
ribbed and ancient as the sun," and are white 



DRIFT-WOOD. 121 

with snow for a considerable portion of the year. 
These Aleutian Islands, bounded by wave-battered 
rocks, stretching far out in the Pacific towards 
Asia, have no trees, the soil not having sufficient 
depth to support them, but they are thickly cov- 
ered with a low-growing, luxuriant vegetation in 
great variety. Between the mountains and the 
sea are many natural prairies, with a rich soil of 
vegetable mould suitable for domestic gardening. 
The wood consumed by the inhabitants as fuel is 
the product of drift-logs or trees reclaimed from 
the sea. On the breaking up of winter in the 
large islands at the northeast and on the mainland, 
the unsealing of the ice-bound rivers sends down 
from the great forests through which they flow 
thousands of fallen trees, many of which are very 
large. This is especially the case with the Yukon 
River, which empties its immense accumulation of 
debris into Norton Sound, and the Kuskoquin, 
emptying into a bay of the same name one hun- 
dred and fifty miles farther south. When these 
tree trunks find their way to the open sea, the 
prevailing currents bear them southward to the 
Aleutian Islands, where a large number become 
stranded at Attoo, and are promptly secured 
and stored for use as fuel. It would seem to be 
rather a precarious source of supply to depend 
upon for this purpose, but we were told that, as a 
rule, it was ample to meet the demand. There is 
also a stocky vine growing in great abundance 
upon the islands, which the native women gather 
and dry, and this makes a quick, strong fire. At 



122 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

certain seasons the women may be seen in long 
lines coming from the hills, each one bearing upon 
her back a monster bundle of this product, which 
they store for use when the other source of fuel 
fails them or proves insufficient. The people of At- 
too have tamed the wild goose, of which they rear 
considerable flocks for domestic use, similar to our 
New England custom with the tame bird, and it is 
said they are the only tribe in Alaska who do so. 
Long since the blue fox was by some means intro- 
duced upon the island, and being at first properly 
protected, the place has become fairly stocked with 
them, a certain number only being killed annually 
by the natives, and from their valuable fur these 
Aleuts realize quite a large sum. Were it neces- 
sary, lumber could be brought in small quantities 
from the island of Kodiak, or even from the main- 
land far away ; but there is very little use for it 
in Attoo, the houses being built of drift-logs and 
not of boards. Besides the low, thrifty species of 
shrubbery growing on these islands, there are also 
wild berries in great abundance, the original seeds 
having probably been brought by the birds from 
the mainland. Grasses grow luxuriantly, being 
cut and cured to feed a few small Siberian cattle 
through the winter months, though it is hardly 
necessary to house them at all. They are kept 
on only one or two of the larger islands of the 
group. Domestic animals might do well here with 
a little care, but the attention of the natives is 
given almost exclusively to the products of the sea, 
whose very bounty demoralizes them. At Una- 



UNALASKA. 123 

laska, of this same group, the natural grass grows 
to six feet in height, and with such body that one 
must part it by exerting considerable force in or- 
der to get through. The natives braid it into use- 
ful and ornamental articles, hats, baskets, mats, 
and the like. This prolific growth is represented 
to be remarkably nutritious, and cattle are very 
fond of it. W. H. Dall predicted that this Aleu- 
tian district will yet furnish California with its 
best butter and cheese ; while Dr. Kellogg, bot- 
anist of the United States Exploring Expedition, 
wrote : " Unalaska abounds in grasses, with a cli- 
mate better adapted for haying than the coast of 
Oregon. The cattle are remarkably fat, and the 
milk abundant." This is the refitting station for 
all vessels passing between the Pacific Ocean and 
Behring Strait, and here also is the principal trad- 
ing post of the Alaska Commercial Company. 

Mr. George Ward man, United States Treasury 
Agent, that stated on his late visit to this island 
he saw in one warehouse sea-otter skins ready for 
shipment which were worth quarter of a million 
dollars in the London market. This will repre- 
sent, perhaps, two thirds of all this class of pelts 
furnished to the world annually, as comparatively 
few go from any other quarter. Other land furs 
are brought here for shipment to San Francisco, 
two fur companies having headquarters at Una- 
laska. The place has some sixty native houses, 
and perhaps five hundred inhabitants. Unalaska 
is known to be rich in both gold and silver mines, 
one of which is owned by a San Francisco com- 



124 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

pany, and which it is proposed to fully develop 
and work during the coming year, careful tests hav- 
ing proven its prospective value. 

The same fertility seen at Unalaska exists also 
at Kodiak and Atagnak, where the small breed of 
cattle that live upon the grass are as fat as seals, 
and require no shelter all the year round. There 
is a small ship-yard near the first named island, 
where vessels of twenty-five and thirty tons are 
built for fishing in the neighboring sea. These 
two islands, situated just off the eastern shore of 
the Alaska Peninsula, are called the garden spots 
of this region, enjoying more sunshine and fair 
weather than any other part of the Territory. 
They contain rich pastures, beautiful woodlands, 
and broad open fields, whicli during the summer 
are carpeted with constant verdure and wild flow- 
ers. Kodiak was for a long time the capital of the 
Russian American possessions, but the govern- 
ment headquarters were removed for some reason ' 
to Sitka. On Wood Island, opposite Kodiak, is 
the clear and spacious lake which so long fur- 
nished ice to the dwellers on the Pacific coast, but 
particularly to the people of San Francisco. The 
whole range of Aleutian Islands from Attoo to 
Kodiak contains between four and five thousand 
inhabitants, nearly all of whom are called Chris- 
tians, being members of the Greek Church. They 
are very generally half-breeds, that is, born of in- 
termarriage between emigrant Russians and native 
women. Professor Davidson was struck by the 
strong resemblance of the aboriginal tribes inhab- 



NATIVE ARTISTS. 125 

iting these islands to the Chinese and Japanese, 
and was satisfied that they came originally from 
Asia. There are many very intelligent persons 
among them. " They are docile, honest, industri- 
ous, and very ingenious," says Professor Davidson. 
The women of Unalaska have always been noted 
for the beauty and variety of their woven grass 
mats and various other ornamental work, particu- 
larly in the combinations of colors and unique 
designs. 

This cunning of the hand and artistic ingenuity 
is not confined to the women ; the men are also 
skillful carvers and engravers. Whenever they 
have been afforded a fair degree of instruction, 
and the opportunity to exercise their ability, they 
have proved themselves to be adepts especially in 
this last mentioned branch of skilled labor. We 
have seen artistic work produced by a native Un- 
alaskan which it was difficult to believe was not 
the performance of some experienced and thor- 
oughly educated European. 

The thirty -eight charts in the Hydrographic 
Atlas of Tebenkoff were all drawn and engraved 
on copper by a native Aleut. 

On the island of Unga, one of the Shumagin 
gronp, situated half way between Unalaska and 
Kodiak, is a small settlement of a score of white 
men and about a hundred and fifty natives. By 
a regulation of our Treasury Department, only 
natives are allowed to hunt the sea-otter, and 
therefore these white men have married native 
wives, thereby becoming natives in the eyes of the 



126 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

law. The revenue derived from the sea-otter trade 
on this island is said to average from six to seven 
hundred dollars a year to every family. Off the 
southern shore of the Shumagin group is the'best 
cod fishing bank that is known. It is estimated 
that a million good-sized cod were taken here last 
season and shipped to San Francisco. This me- 
tropolis of California once depended upon the 
product of our Newfoundland fisheries for its 
salted cod, but has drawn its supply for the last 
few years almost entirely from the coast of Alaska, 
and the consumption has increased every year. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Cook's Inlet. — Manufacture of Quass. — Native Piety. — Mum- 
mies. — The North Coast. — Geographical Position. — Shal- 
lowness of Behring Sea. — Alaskan Peninsula. — Size of 
Alaska. — A " Terra Incognita." — Reasons why Russia sold 
it to our Government. — The Price Comparatively Nothing. 
— Rental of the Seal Islands. ■ — Mr. Seward's Purchase 
turns out to be a Bonanza. 

Cook's Inlet, which lies to -the north of the 
island of Kodiak, was esteemed by the Russians 
to be the pleasantest portion of Alaska in the 
summer season, with its bright skies and well 
wooded shores. It stretches far inland in a north- 
easterly direction, and is quite out of the region 
of the fogs which prevail on the coast. Gold has 
been profitably mined for some years on the Kak- 
ny River, which empties into the eastern side of 
this extensive inlet, and good coal abounds in the 
neighborhood. 

When the Russians first came to this region 
they taught the natives to make what they called 
quass, a cooling and comparatively harmless acid 
drink. To produce this article rye meal is mixed 
with water, in certain proportions, and allowed to 
remain in a cask until fermentation takes place 
and it is sour and lively enough to draw. Lat- 
terly the natives have learned to add sugar, and 
thus to produce a fermented liquor of an intoxica- 



128 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

ting nature. Progress in this direction has been 
made until now they mix a certain portion each 
of sugar, flour, dried apples, and a few hops, when 
they can be obtained, putting the whole into a 
close barrel or cask. When fermentation has 
taken place and the mixture has worked itself 
clear, it forms a strong intoxicant. This article 
proves the cause of a thousand ills among the abo- 
rigines. In each of the scattered villages among 
the islands there is sure to be seen a few broken- 
down victims of this active poison, who have im- 
poverished their families and wrecked their own 
constitutions. 

In each of these Aleutian islands there is found 
a Russian - Greek chapel and a regularly ap- 
pointed priest, this religion being preferred by 
the natives to that of all other sects, captivating 
their simple minds by its gorgeous show and its 
mystery. Their honest devotion, however, to a 
religion which they cannot comprehend may be 
reasonably questioned. There can be no doubt 
that their idolatrous customs and original panthe- 
ism have been almost entirely abandoned, — cere- 
monies which were elaborately described by the 
early voyagers, and which involved strange incan- 
tations and even human sacrifices. Intercourse 
with the whites has at least had the effect of 
abolishing the most objectionable features of their 
early superstitions. The bishop of the organiza- 
tion is a Russian and resides in San Francisco, 
whence he controls these parishes, which he occa- 
sionally visits, being amply supplied with pecu- 



NATIVE PIETY. 129 

niary means by the home government at St. Pe- 
tersburg. The piety of these Aleuts is very pro- 
nounced, so far as all outward observances go, and 
we were told that they never sit down to their 
meals without briefly asking a blessing upon their 
rude repast. Golovin, a Russian who lived many 
years among the Aleuts, says : " Their attention 
during religious services is unflinching, though 
they do not understand a word of the whole rite." 
The same author goes on to say, " During my ten 
years' stay in Unalaska not a single case of mur- 
der happened among the Aleutians. Not an at- 
tempt to kill, nor fight, nor even a considerable 
dispute, although I often saw them drunk." Hunt- 
ing is the principal source of their support, and to 
get the sea-otter they often make long, exposed 
trips in their undecked boats, and experience 
many trying hardships. When they return to 
their homes at the close of the season, having been 
nearly always reasonably successful, the quass 
barrel is brought into requisition, and its contents 
partaken of to excess, drunken orgies following 
with all their attendant evils. 

The Aleuts are a very honest people, quite un- 
like the Eskimos of the north, who are natural 
pilferers. They are also possessed of a certain 
stoicism which compels admiration. When -they 
are sick or suffering great pain they utter no com- 
plaint, and outwardly are always content, no mat- 
ter what the future may send as their lot. An 
Aleut is never known to sigh, groan, or shed a 
tear. If he feels it, he never evinces immoderate 



130 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

joy, but is always quiet, moderate, and grave. 
They are in a great degree fatalists, and believe 
that which is decreed by the power in the sky 
will come to pass, whatever they may do to pre- 
vent it. It is Kismet. 

It is an interesting fact that before these islands 
were discovered by the Russians, the natives were 
in the practice of preserving their dead in the 
form of mummies, and this had probably been 
their habit for centuries. Satisfactory evidence 
is afforded by what is found upon the islands to 
show that they have been the residence of popu- 
lous tribes for over two thousand years. Mr. 
Dall, in his indefatigable researches, was able to 
secure several examples of the mummified dead 
on these outlying islands, eleven of which came 
from one cave on the south end of Unalaska, but 
none were ever found or known to have existed 
upon the mainland. This fact is looked upon 
by ethnologists as an important addition to our 
knowledge of the prehistoric condition of these 
peculiar people of the far Northwest, now part 
and parcel of our widespread population. The 
mummies of Peru and those of Alaska are now 
arranged side by side in the cases of the Smith- 
sonian Institution at Washington, and what is 
very singular is that they seem, in their general 
appearance, to be almost identical. 

The interior of Alaska and its more Arctic 
regions north of the valley of the Yukon remain 
still only partially explored. No more is actually 
known of it than of Central Africa. It would be 



POINT BARRO W. 131 

anything but a pleasure excursion, at present, to 
penetrate the extreme northern harbors of the ex- 
tended coast line, which are mostly uninhabited, 
and which are tempest-swept for a large portion 
of the year. Northwestern Alaska shares with 
northeastern Siberia the possession of the coldest 
winter climate in the world, but we must remem- 
ber it is not always winter, and thousands of Es- 
kimos here find life quite tolerable. Beyond 70° 
of north latitude no trees are to be found ; even 
shrubs nave disappeared, giving place to a scanty 
growth of lichens and creeping wood-plants. Even 
here, however, Nature asserts her prerogative and 
brings forth a few bright flowers and blooming 
grasses in the brief midsummer days. Point 
Barrow is what might be termed, in common par- 
lance, " the jumping-off place ; " the beginning of 
that mysterious ocean where the compass needle, 
which lies horizontal at the equator, attracted by 
an unexplained influence dips and points straight 
downward. There is no lack of animal life in 
this frozen region, the sea is as full as in the 
tropics ; the whale here finds its birthplace, and 
herring issue forth in countless columns to seek 
more southern seas, while the air is darkened by 
innumerable flocks of sea-fowl. The wolves, the 
polar bear, and other fur-bearing animals afford 
meat and clothing to the Eskimo to an extent 
far exceeding his requirements. Only thoroughly 
organized expeditions and a few adventurous 
whalers attempt to pass Point Barrow, a long 
reach of low barren land, and the most northerly 



132 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

portion of the Territory, which projects itself into 
the great Arctic Ocean very much after the fash- 
ion of the North Cape of Norway, in the eastern 
hemisphere, at latitude 71° 10'. 

There is a village at Point Barrow containing 
about a hundred and fifty people, living in houses 
partly under ground as a protection against the 
cold. The roofs are supported by rafters of whale 
jaws and ribs. This people we call the Eskimo 
proper. They have a severe climate to contend 
with, but are abundantly supplied with food and 
oil from the sea. They have a strange aversion 
to salt, and any food thus cooked or preserved 
they will not eat unless driven to it by dire neces- 
sity. Our government is just about to erect a 
comfortable structure here as a sort of refuge to 
shipwrecked navigators of the Polar Sea, this 
being the verge of those unknown waters which 
guard the secret of the Pole. 

A peninsula makes out from near the centre 
of the western coast of Alaska, the terminus of 
which is the nearest point between this continent 
and Asia, the two being separated by Behring 
Strait, where the East and the West confront 
each other, and where the extreme western bound- 
ary of our country is the line which separates Asia 
from America. This is called Cape Prince of 
Wales, a rocky point rising in its highest peak 
to twenty-five hundred feet above the sea. Here 
is a village of Eskimos numbering between three 
and four hundred souls, who do not bear a good 
reputation. They are skilled as fishermen on the 



CAVE-DWELLERS. 133 

sea and hunters on the land, to which it may be 
added that they are professional smugglers. Here 
it is quite possible in clear weather to see the 
Asiatic coast — Eastern Siberia — from United 
States soil, the distance across the strait being 
about forty miles. There are two islands in the 
strait, known as the Diomedes, almost in a direct 
line between Cape Prince of Wales on one side 
and East Cape on the other ; stepping-stones, as it 
were, between the two continents. Occasional in- 
tercourse between the natives of the two opposite 
shores is maintained to-day by means of sailing 
craft, and doubtless has been going on for hun- 
dreds, if not for thousands, of years. So moderate 
are the seas, and so calm the weather hereabouts 
at some portions of the year, that the passage is 
made in open or undecked boats. 

On King's Island, fifty miles south of Cape 
Prince of Wales, there is a tribe of veritable cave- 
dwellers. The island is a great mass of rock, 
with almost perpendicular sides rising seven hun- 
dred feet above the sea. On one side, where the 
angle is nearly forty-five degrees, the Eskimos 
have excavated homes in the rock, about half a 
hundred of which are two hundred feet above the 
sea. These people openly defy the revenue laws, 
and are the known distributers of contraband arti- 
cles, especially of intoxicants. 

Behring Sea, where it washes the shores of 
Alaska, from Norton Sound to Bristol Bay, is 
slowly growing more shallow, having but fifteen 
fathoms depth, in some places, forty miles off the 



134 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

west shore of the mainland, and growing shal- 
lower as it approaches the continent. This has 
caused a speculative writer to suggest the possible 
joining of Asia and America, at some future 
period, by the gradual filling up of Behring Sea. 
The reason of this is obvious. The Yukon River 
brings down from its course of two thousand miles 
and more many hundred tons of soil daily which 
it deposits along the coast, while the Kuskoquin 
River, second only to the Yukon in volume, is en- 
gaged in the same work about a hundred and fifty 
miles south of where the greater river empties into 
Norton Sound. These large water-ways carry, 
like the Mississippi, immense deposits to the sea, 
and the process has been going on night and day 
for no human being knows how long. 

One hundred and fifty miles from the mouth 
of this Kuskoquin River the Moravians of Beth- 
lehem, Pa., support a missionary establishment. 
The station is named Bethel, one of the most iso- 
lated points in Alaska, receiving a mail but once 
a year ! Truly, nothing save fulfilling a conscien- 
tious sense of duty could compensate intelligent 
people for thus separating themselves from home 
and friends. 

We have spoken of a peninsula making out at 
the north towards Asia, but this comparatively 
insignificant projection from the mainland should 
not be permitted to confuse the reader's mind as 
regards the Alaska Peninsula, properly so called, 
which extends from the southern part of the Ter- 
ritory, ending in the islands which form the Aleu- 



VOLCANOES. 135 

tian group. This peninsula is undoubtedly one 
of the most remarkable in the world, being fifty- 
miles broad and three hundred long, literally piled 
with mountains, some of which are but partially 
extinct volcanoes, emitting at the present time 
more or less smoke and ashes, sometimes accom- 
panied by blazing gases discernible at night far 
away over land and sea, appearing to the mid- 
night watch on board ship like a raging confla- 
gration in the heavens. The principal islands of 
the group of which we have been speaking, and 
which stretch far away from the southwestern 
corner of the Alaska Peninsula towards Kam- 
schatka, as though extending a cordial hand from 
the Occident to the Orient, are as follows : Uni- 
mak, with a volcanic peak nine thousand feet 
high ; Unalaska, whose peak is five thousand 
seven hundred feet high ; Atka, with a height of 
four thousand eight hundred feet ; Kyska, which 
is crowned by an elevation of three thousand seven 
hundred feet ; and Attoo, whose tallest peak is 
over three thousand feet. This island is just about 
four hundred miles from the Asiatic coast. Uni- 
mak has a large lake of sulphur within its borders, 
and all of these islands have more or less hot 
springs. From those in Unalaska loud reports 
issue at intervals, like the boom of cannon, recall- 
ing our late similar experience in the Yellowstone 
Park. 

Alaska constitutes the northwestern portion of 
the American continent, and has a coast line ex- 
ceeding eleven thousand miles. The extreme 



136 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

length of the Territory, north and south, is eleven 
hundred miles, and its breadth is eight hundred. 
It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, 
on the east by British Columbia, on the south by 
the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by Behring 
Strait and the North Pacific. Our geographies 
and encyclopaedias help us to little more than the 
boundaries of this great Territory, which contains 
nearly six hundred thousand square miles. The 
latest published estimates give the aggregate 
number of square miles as nineteen thousand less 
than the amount we have named, but Governor 
Swineford and other residents of the Territory 
believe it to be an underestimate. As there is 
no actual survey extant, the figures given can only 
be a reasonable approximation to the true num- 
ber. The boundary dividing Alaska and British 
Columbia was settled by treaty between England 
and Russia in 1825, and the same line is recog- 
nized to-day as separating our possessions in this 
quarter from those of Great Britain. Alaska is 
as large as all of the New England and Middle 
States, with Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, 
Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee combined. 
So far as size is concerned, the Territory is, there- 
fore, an empire in itself, being equal in area to 
seventy-one States like Massachusetts, and con- 
taining as many square miles as England, Ireland, 
Scotland, Wales, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzer- 
land, and Belgium united. It has been estimated 
by competent judges that, with its islands, it has 
a coast line equal to the circumference of the 



A TERRA INCOGNITA. 137 

globe. Very few of our people, even among the 
educated class, have an adequate idea of the im- 
mensity of this northwestern Territory, two thirds 
of which abounds in available resources, only 
awaiting development. Were Alaska situated on 
our Atlantic coast it would extend from Maine to 
Florida. 

Miss Kate Field, in a comprehensive article 
already quoted from, published in the " North 
American Review," justly censuring Congress for 
its supineness and ignorance in relation to Alaska, 
says : " American citizens, living comfortably on 
the Atlantic seaboard, knowing their own wants 
and dictating terms to their submissive representa- 
tives, take little heed of those new additions to 
the United States which are destined to be the 
crowning glory of the Republic. When a nation 
is so big as to render portions of it a terra incog- 
nita to those who make the laws, there's some- 
thing rotten this side of Denmark ! . . . The 
march of empire goes on in spite of human falli- 
bility, and now the land of the midnight sun 
knocks at the door of Congress. She is twenty- 
three years old, and asks to be treated as though 
she were of age. The big-wigs at Washington 
rub their eyes, put on their spectacles, and wonder 
what this Hyperborean hubbub means? " 

In examining the geographical characteristics of 
Alaska, we observe a peculiarity in its outlying 
islands which is also found in the construction of 
the continents. They all have east of their south- 
ern points series of islands. Thus, Alaska has 



( 



138 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

the Sitkan or Alexander group ; Africa has Mada- 
gascar ; Asia has Ceylon; Australia has the two 
large islands of New Zealand ; and America has 
the Falkland Islands. Alaska is the great island 
region of the United States. 

It is not for us to enter into the brief history of 
the country, that is, brief as known to us, but it 
is well to fix in the mind the fact that Russia's 
title was derived from prior discovery, Behring 
first saw the continent in this region of North 
Am£aic^.Jnly-lS, 1741, nii latitude 58° 28', and 
two days later anchored in a bay near a point 
which he called St. Elias, a name which he also 
gave to the great mountain overshadowing the 
neighboring shore. It is sufficient for our pur- 
pose that we know this Territory was. purchased 
from Russia by our government in 1867, after 
that country had occupied it a little more than a 
^ejitury, paying therefor the sum o! seven million 
two hundred thousand dollars. It has been truly 
said that it was practically giving away the coun- 
try on the part of Russia ; but doubtless diplomatic 
reasons influenced the Tzar, who would much 
rather have presented it outright to the United 
States than to have it, by conquest or otherwise, 
fall into the hands of England, who was known 
to crave its possession as connected with her 
Pacific coast interests. So when the first Napoleon 
sold us Louisana, he did so not alone in considera- 
tion of the money, which was doubtless much 
needed by his treasury, — amounting to sixty mil- 
lion francs, — but because he was not willing 



A BONANZA. 139 

to leave this distant territory a prey to Great 
Britain in the event of hostilities between France 
and England, which were then imminent. He 
was glad, as he remarked, " to establish forever 
the power of the United States, and give to Eng- 
land a maritime rival destined to humble her 
pride;" adding, "It is for the interest of France 
that America should be great and strong." 

Alaska was a white elephant to Russia, but in 
our hands it has already proved a bonanza. 

Any one can now see that the sum named as an 
equivalent for this colossal territory was a trifling 
value to place upon it, when its great extent is 
realized, together with its vast mineral wealth and 
inexhaustible supply of fish, fur, and timber. It 
is in fact the only great game and fur preserve left 
in the Western world, inviting the trapper and 
hunter to reap a rich return for their industry. 
Nowhere else on this continent do wild animals 
more abound, or enjoy such immunity from harm, 
as is afforded them in the dense, half-impenetrable 
forests of Alaska, where Nature herself becomes 
our gamekeeper, preventing the too rapid extinc- 
tion of animal life. 

From a lease in favor of the Alaska Commercial 
Company of San Francisco, giving them the ex- 
clusive right to take seals on the PrybilorT" group 
of islands, our government has received four and 
one half per cent, interest, annually, during the 
last nineteen years, on the entire purchase-money 
paid to Russia. This same company, whose term 
is just about to expire, would gladly renew the 



140 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

lease with our government at a considerable ad- 
vance upon the amount heretofore paid ; but it is 
an open question whether the continuance of this 
great monopoly is for the best interest of Alaska, 
when considered in all its bearings. 

Undoubtedly this contract is a real benefit in 
one way. The company, through its agents, will 
take good care to see that no outside interest in- 
terferes with their rights so as to permit any indis- 
criminate slaughter of the seals. Whereas, were 
the capture of these peltries not guarded, an end 
of the product would be brought about in a very 
short time. There is a manifest injustice in all 
monopolies, as we view them ; but of two evils, in 
this instance we should perhaps feel inclined to 
choose the least by selling the privilege to a re- 
sponsible company. It must be admitted that the 
high-handed course of the present company, their 
arbitrary assumptions, and their treatment of the 
natives generally, are represented in a very bad 
light by many residents of Alaska ; but little else, 
however, could be expected of so great a monop- 
oly. One thing is certain, and that is, the com- 
pany has realized a great fortune by its contract. 

There were plenty of people who ridiculed the 
acquisition of this Territory at the time when it 
was brought about ; but there were also some far- 
seeing statesmen, influenced by no selfish motives, 
who felt very different about the matter, among 
whom was Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, 
and to whom the credit is mostly due for con- 
summating the important purchase. That able 



SEWARD'S CROWNING GLORY 141 

diplomat considered the transaction to have been 
the most important act of his official career, and 
put himself on record to that effect. He remarked, 
in discussing the matter at a public meeting, " It 
ma} 7 take two generations before the purchase is 
properly appreciated." Mr. Seward was right. It 
was a crowning glory for him to have added a 
new empire to his country's domain, though in 
1867 its great commercial importance was hardly 
known, even to himself. Its valuable gold depos- 
its were then thought possibly to exist ; but sub- 
sequent developments have already far outstripped 
anticipations in that direction, and the large yield 
of the precious metal is annually increasing. 

" I thought when Alaska was purchased, in 
1867," says that keen observer and clever writer, 
Captain John Codman, " that it might answer for 
a great skating park; but now I know, from 
merely coasting along its southeastern shores and 
landing at a few of its outposts, that the seven 
million two hundred thousand dollars paid for it 
is less than the interest of the sum that it is worth. 
A great part of it is yet unexplored, for its whole 
area is three times greater than the republic of 
France ; but what has been discovered is invalua- 
ble, and what has not been discovered may be 
valuable beyond calculation." 

So little did we, as a people, appreciate the new 
acquisition that it was almost entirely neglected 
for seventeen years. Not until 1884 was it 
granted a territorial government, Hon. John H. 
Kinkead, ex-governor of Nevada, being the first 



142 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

governor appointed for Alaska. " Twenty years 
ago," says Governor Swineford of Alaska, " I made 
political capital out of Seward's purchase. I called 
it the refrigerator of the United States. I heaped 
obloquy on William H. Seward. I shall spend 
the rest of my life in making reparation to what I 
have so foully wronged." Such has been the 
general testimony of all who speak from personal 
observation, and uninfluenced by sinister motives. 



CHAPTER X. 

Territorial Acquisitions. — Population of Alaska. — Steady Com- 
mercial Growth. — Primeval Forests. — The Country teems 
with Animal Life. — A Mighty Reserve of Codfish. — Native 
Pood. — Pur-Bearing Animals. — Islands of St. George and 
St. Paul. — Interesting Habits of the Fur-Seal. — The Breed- 
ing Season. — Their Natural Food. — Mammoth Size of the 
Bull Seals. 

The subject of the addition of Alaska to the 
United States suggests the fact that our territo- 
rial acquisitions from time to time form certain 
decided and interesting landmarks in the history 
of the country. Thus, in 18Q£jwe acquired Lou- 
isiana from France by the payment of fifteen mil- 
lion dollars. In 1845 Texas was annexed and 
her debt assumed, amounting to the sum of seven 
million five hundred thousand dollars. In 1848 
California, New Mexico, and Utah were acquired 
from Mexico, partly through war, and by the 
payment of fifteen million dollars. In 1854 Ari- 
zona jvas purchased from Mexico for ten million 
dollars. And last, but by no means least, Alaska, 
as has been stated, was obtained from Russia in 
1867 for seven million two hundred thousand dol- 
lars. " By this purchase," said Charles Summer 
in his able speech before Congress, " we dismiss 
one more monarch from this continent. One by 
one they have retired ; first France; then Spain; 



."• 



144 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

then France again ; and now Russia ; all give way 
to the absorbing Unity which is declared in the 
national motto, E Pluribus Unum." 

At the time of the transfer of Alaska, the native 
population, Russians, half-breeds and all, did not 
probably exceed forty thousand ; indeed, careful 
inquiry seems to indicate that this is an overesti- 
mate. Since that period the native population 
has steadily decreased, but the white population 
has increased, it is believed, sufficiently to make 
good the estimated aggregate of twenty-two years 
ago. In 1867 the commerce of Alaska was offi- 
cially reported as being two million five hundred 
thousand dollars for the current year. The pub- 
lished estimate for the last year made it a fraction 
less than seven million dollars, of which about a 
million five hundred thousand dollars was in gold 
bullion. Certainly this shows a very steady if 
not rapid commercial growth. Competent indi- 
viduals estimate that the commerce of the Terri- 
tory for the year 1889 will reach ten million dol- 
lars in amount. The increase in the number of 
fish-canning establishments alone will add two 
millions to last year's aggregate. The shipment 
of preserved salmon exported in tins and barrels 
is increasing annually. 

The available timber now standing in the Ter- 
ritory might alone meet the ordinary demand of 
this continent for half a century. Though the 
extreme northern part of Alaska is treeless, its 
southern shores, both of the islands and mainland, 
are covered with a dense forest growth, the Aleu- 



FORESTS. 145 

tian group excepted. It is the visible wealth of 
the country, and a source of admiration to all ap- 
preciative visitors. 

Fort Tongas is very near the southeast point of 
Alaska, and about ten miles north of Fort Simp- 
son ; the former American, the latter English 
territory. When the ground was cleared to estab- 
lish the American fort, " yellow cedar-trees," says 
W. H. Dall, " eight feet in diameter were cut 
down. The flanks of all the islands of this archi- 
pelago bear a magnificent growth of the finest 
timber, from the water's edge to fifteen hundred 
feet above the sea." It must be a cedar of mag- 
nificent proportions out of which the natives can 
hew and construct a canoe seventy feet long capa- 
ble of carrying one hundred men. This the Haidas 
do, producing models both swift and seaworthy, 
the prows extending in a peak not unlike the 
ancient galleys of Greece, decorated with totemic 
designs. These magnificent forests, having never 
felt the stroke of the axe, present a growth natu- 
rally very dense and peculiar, the branches of the 
tall trees being often draped with long black and 
white moss, dry and fine as hair, which it resem- 
bles. This characteristic recalled the same effect 
observed upon the thickly wooded shores of the 
St. John River in Florida, and the Lake Pontchar- 
train district of Louisiana. The fallen trees and 
stumps are cushioned by a growth of green, vel- 
vety moss, nearly ten inches in thickness, and are 
also decked with creeping vines in the most pic- 
turesque manner ; among which is seen here and 



146 TEE NEW ELDORADO. 

there deep red clusters of the bunch-berry. The 
timber is pronounced by good judges to be as val- 
uable as that of Oregon and Washington, com- 
pared with which our forests in Maine are hardly 
more than tall undergrowth. A very large per- 
centage of the Alaska timber grows at the most 
convenient points for shipment, making it espe- 
cially available. The white spruce, called the 
Sitka pine, rises to a height of from a hundred 
and fifty to a hundred and eighty feet, and meas- 
ures from three to six feet in diameter. When 
this growth is cut into dimension lumber it very 
much resembles our southern pitch-pine. There 
is also found in these forests the usual variety of 
cedar, fir, ash, maple, and birch trees, mingled with 
the others of loftier growth. The yellow cedar of 
this region grows nowhere else of such size and 
quality. It is much prized, and best adapted for 
shipbuilding, having been found to be unequaled 
for durability, and also because it is impervious 
to the troublesome teredo, or boring worm, which 
destroys the ordinary piles under the wharves at 
Puget Sound, as well as at Sitka, so rapidly as to 
render it necessary to renew them every three or 
four years. Southern latitudes, in the neighbor- 
hood of the Gulf of Mexico, suffer equally from 
the depredations of this active marine pest. The 
Alaska cedar is also a choice cabinet wood, pos- 
sessing a very agreeable odor, considerable quanti- 
ties of it being shipped for select use in San Fran- 
cisco and elsewhere. The coast of the Alexan- 
der Archipelago comprises nearly eight thousand 



AN INEXHAUSTIBLE LUMBER SUPPLY. 147 

miles of shore line, forming long straight avenues 
of calm deep water many miles in length, sprin- 
kled with islands densely wooded from the water's 
edge, while the number of good harbors is almost 
countless, in which vessels may lay alongside the 
land and receive their cargoes of timber or lumber 
in the most convenient manner. 

When the woods of Maine and Michigan cease 
to yield satisfactorily, as they must do by and by, 
we have here a ready source of supply which no 
ordinary demand can exhaust in many years. One 
enthusiastic writer upon this subject predicts that 
this part of the North Pacific coast will eventually 
become the ship-yard of the American continent. 
One is hardly prepared to indorse so sweeping a 
prediction, but that there is a nearly inexhausti- 
ble supply of the necessary timber for such a pur- 
pose even an inexperienced visitor cannot fail to 
realize. It is gratifying to know that these forests 
are free from all danger by fire, which often 
proves so destructive in the State of Washington 
and elsewhere. This immunity from a much 
dreaded exigency is owing to the frequent rains, 
which keep the undergrowth in Alaska so moist 
that the flames cannot spread. 

Speaking of Fort Tongas, we should not forget 
to mention that a native couple, educated by the 
missionaries, are here teaching a school of young 
natives numbering fifty pupils, for which our gov- 
ernment pays them five hundred dollars per an- 
num. The success attained by these instructors 
in teaching the ordinary branches of an English 



148 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

education is surprising. Tongas, it will be remem- 
bered, is the most southerly point of our Alaska 
possessions. 

The country teems with animal life. The sea 
which laves its shores and the outlying islands is 
so full of excellent fish as to have been a wonder 
in this respect since the days of the earliest navi- 
gators. The same may be said of its rivers, inlets, 
and lakes, the former being famous for the abun- 
dance, size, and excellence of the salmon which 
they produce, and which are annually packed for 
exportation in such large quantities to various 
parts of the world. We were told by the over- 
seer of the canning factory at Pyramid Harbor 
that the entire product of the establishment was 
already — the season but just commencing — en- 
gaged by a Liverpool house. To secure the deliv- 
ery the foreign merchant had cheerfully advanced 
five hundred pounds sterling. 

"The Alaska banks would be an ocean paradise 
to the Newfoundland fishermen," says Professor 
Davidson. " The eastern part of Behring Sea 4 is 
a mighty reserve of cod,' and the area within the 
limits of fifty fathoms of water is no less than 
eighteen thousand miles." " What I have seen," 
said W. H. Seward at Sitka, in 1869, "has almost 
made me a convert to the theory of some natural- 
ists, that the waters of the globe are filled with 
stores for the sustenance of animal life surpassing 
the available productions of the land." The coast 
also abounds in oysters, clams, mussels, and crabs. 
The oysters are small, but of excellent flavor, and 



FUR-BEARING ANIMALS. 149 

might be greatly improved by cultivation. Clams 
and mussels are much esteemed by the aborigines, 
the first-named being large and of prime quality. 
They dry the clams, as they do salmon and cod, 
using no salt in the process, but stringing them 
by the score on long blades of strong grass, and 
in this shape laying them away for winter use. 
There is certainly some special preservative qual- 
ity in the atmosphere here which enables the 
natives to keep clams unfrozen in good condition 
for several months. The matter of "ripeness," 
however, makes no difference to these Indians, 
who seem actually to prefer their fish a little 
putrid, and oil is purposely kept until it becomes 
so before they will use it. 

The hills and valleys of the islands and the 
mainland support more fur-bearing animals than 
can be found on any other part of this continent, 
and we certainly believe of any other part of the 
world. The great variety includes bears of several 
species, wolves, beavers, deer, foxes, caribou, mar- 
tens, mountain goats, moose, musk-oxen, and 
others. Herds of walruses are found on the far 
north coast, as well as in Behring Sea, which 
yield food to the natives, and the best of ivory 
for sale to the traders. It is a curious fact that no 
reptile, toad, lizard, or similar animal is to be 
found in Alaskan territory. The waters of the 
North Pacific, from the most westerly of the Aleu- 
tian Islands up to Behring Strait, swarm with 
cod, haddock, sturgeon, large flounders, and hali- 
but, while our hardy whalemen successfully pursue 



150 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

their mammoth game both north and south of the 
strait. When the country was first discovered, 
there was another important animal found here 
in considerable numbers, known as the sea-cow, 
which furnished Vancouver and his crew with 
wholesome and palatable meat, and which had 
formed a source of food supply for the aborigines 
probably for centuries. But this large, amphib- 
ious animal, thirty feet long and seal-like in shape, 
has now entirely disappeared. This was owing to 
merciless slaughter by the Russians, who found 
the sea-cow an easy prey to capture, because of 
its inactivity and clumsiness in the water, besides 
which, the creature is said to have been utterly 
fearless of man, making no effort to escape when 
attacked. They are represented to have been 
fierce when attacked bv the wolves, and to have 
been fully able to defend themselves. 

Two islands lying to the north of the Aleutian 
group form a favorite resort of the fur-seal, which 
so abounds in this region that nearly a century 
of active war waged upon them by the hunters, 
for the sake of their valuable skins, has produced 
no perceptible diminution in their numbers. 
This is partly owing, however, to the fact that of 
late years the killing has been restricted as to the 
aggregate annual number, and also as to the sex 
and age of the seals. The pelts sent from Alaska 
have not fallen short of a hundred thousand annu- 
ally for the last twenty years, and it is believed 
by those who' should be able to judge correctly 
that this number has been very much exceeded. 



THE SEAL ISLANDS. 151 

There is hardly an uninterested person in the 
Territory who will not express this opinion. 

The two islands referred to in Behring Sea, 
namely, St. Paul and St. George, together with 
two smaller and unimportant ones named respec- 
tively Otter Island, which is situated six miles 
south of St. Paul, and Walrus Island, about the 
same distance to the eastward, are known as the 
Prybiloff group. St. Paul is thirteen miles long 
by four broad ; St. George is ten miles long and 
between four and five broad. Neither of them 
have any harbor in which vessels can safely lie, 
but they anchor half a mile or more off shore, and 
freight is taken or delivered by means of light- 
ers. So violent is the surf at times on these 
islands in mid-ocean that if the wind is unfavor- 
able no attempt at landing is made. Otter Isl- 
and is peculiar in being nothing more nor less 
than an extincLff jolcjano, with a still gaping, threat- 
ening crater, and an elevation of three hundred 
feet above the surrounding sea. Its only occu- 
pants consist of water-fowl and blue foxes, both 
as plentiful as peas in a pod. The animals were 
introduced long ago for breeding purposes, and 
have greatly increased. These are the "seal 
islands " so often spoken of, and which furnish 
four fifths of all the sealskins used in the markets 
of the world. This sounds like an extravagant 
estimate, but it is believed to be quite correct. 

The islands are of volcanic origin, having been 
thrown up from the bottom of the sea in compara- 
tively modern times. When one speaks of geolog- 



152 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

ical facts, one or two thousand years are considered 
very brief periods. At the time of their discovery, 
St. George and St. Paul were uninhabited, but 
jiative Aleuts, the nearest of whom lived about two 
hundred miles south of these islands, were brought 
hither and domesticated, to work for the Russian 
Fur Company. Since the transfer to our govern- 
ment these people have worked uninterruptedly 
for the Alaska Commercial Company, which has, 
in addition to the headquarters of the seal-fisher}^, 
some forty trading stations in the Territory. 

We speak of the " seal-fisheries," but there is 
in reality no fishing about the business. The 
seals are all taken on land. The employees of 
the company get between the seals and the water 
and drive such as are selected inland like a flock 
of sheep. They move slowly, pulling themselves 
along by their fore flippers, as a dog might do 
with his hind legs broken, but they get over the 
ground at the rate of one or two miles in the hour, 
and are driven the latter distance to the warehouse 
before the killing takes place. 

It is curious that these two islands only, with 
a few small spots in the North Pacific, should pos- 
sess the peculiar conditions of landing-ground and 
climate combined which are necessary for the per- 
fect life and reproduction of the fur-seal. H. W. 
Elliott, who acted as United States government 
agent for four seasons at the seal islands, and who 
is good authority upon this special subject, says i 
"With the exception of these seal islands of 
Behring Sea, there are none elsewhere in the 



OTHER SOURCES OF SUPPLY. 153 

world of the slightest importance to-day. When, 
therefore, we note the eagerness with which our 
civilization calls for sealskin fur, in spite of fashion 
and its caprices, and the fact that it is and always 
will be an article of intrinsic value and in de- 
mand, it at once occurs to us that the government 
is exceedingly fortunate in having this great am- 
phibious stock-yard, far up and away in this seclu- 
sion of Behring Sea, from which it can draw 
continuous revenue, and on which its wise regu- 
lations and its firm hand can continue the seals 
forever." 

This writer's remarks should be qualified, how- 
ever, so far as to state that the Russians possess 
some profitable " rookeries " situated on the Com- 
mander Islands, seven hundred miles to the south- 
west of the Prybiloff group, where the same policy 
of protection for breeding purposes is enforced as 
govern the traffic on our own islands. It is true 
that the product of the Russian islands is as noth- 
ing compared with that of St. Paul and St. George. 
A small number of fur-seal are also secured on the 
coast of Brazil, and at the Shetland and Falkland 
Islands, giving perhaps twenty thousand pelts an- 
nually from other sources than those named in 
Alaska. It is our own opinion that at least forty 
thousand pelts are sent to market by unauthor- 
ized people from the islands and coast of Alaska, 
which number should be added to the hundred 
thousand which the regular company are entitled 
to export, in getting at the aggregate produced 
by the Territory. 



154 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

The two seal islands leased to the Alaska Com- 
mercial Company are about thirty miles apart, 
and are seemingly among the most insignificant 
landmarks known in the ocean. It is only on 
very modern maps that they are designated at all, 
but they afford to the seals the happiest isolation 
and shelter, their position being such as to envelop 
them in fog banks nine days out of ten during 
the entire season of resort. Neither the seals nor 
the natives can long bear the glare of the sum- 
mer sun, and so find no fault with this prevailing 
screen between them and the sky. There are 
no icebergs, properly so called, in these waters. 
Behring Strait is too shallow for anything but 
light field ice to pass into the North Pacific or 
Behring Sea ; there is therefore no fear of visits 
from the polar bears often seen floating about in 
the frozen sea at the north. They would make 
sad havoc among the seals were they to get so far 
south, and drive them away altogether. Ice floats 
off from the immediate shores in the spring, but 
encountering the thermal current, this soon dis- 
solves, and is no impediment to navigation. It is 
marvelous that the natives dwelling on the group 
do not die of the poisoned atmosphere arising 
from the thousands upon thousands of seal car- 
casses annually slaughtered, and which are left to 
decay upon the ground. The stench thus created 
is so powerful that vessels sailing to leeward, 
three or four miles off shore, are permeated by it, 
and though their captains may not have been able 
to get a solar observation for many days, they can 



HABITS OF THE SEAL. 155 

easily tell their exact latitude and longitude by 
44 dead reckoning." Naval surgeons have been 
detached by government to visit and examine the 
physical condition of the people on St. George 
and St. Paul, touching this very matter, and they 
have reported that the natives enjoyed good 
health, the mortality among them being at a very 
low average compared with that of other semi-civ- 
ilized communities favorably situated. There is a 
church and school-house on each of the islands, 
with white teachers, and also a skilled physician, 
who is paid for his services by the Commercial 
Company. 

The fur-seal traffic has heretofore exceeded all 
other regular business in value conducted in this 
Territory, though the product of the precious 
metals will in future probably take the lead, hard 
pressed by the rapidly growing development of 
the fisheries. The habits of the seal are interest- 
ing and very peculiar. It is a social animal, and 
evinces a degree of intelligence nearly approach- 
ing that of the dog. Occasionally a young one 
is found domesticated among the natives of the 
more populous islands, and when thus brought up 
among human beings they become very tractable, 
and are easily taught many amusing tricks. They 
move in herds, coming to the breeding grounds in 
large numbers, and at regular periods of the year, 
that is in the latter part of May and early in 
June. The contrast between the male and female 
seal is great, the former being large, bold, and ag- 
gressive, the latter small, peaceful, and quiet ; both 



156 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

are models of grace and symmetry after their 
kind. While the males are specimens of great 
physical strength, the females are delicate, timid, 
and affectionate. The young are born blind and 
so remain for a couple of weeks, or more. When 
they are about six weeks old the mother takes 
them into the water to teach them to swim. 
They are very shy of the sea at first, but persist- 
ent effort on the mother's part soon makes them 
expert swimmers, and rapidly develops that side 
of their nature. During the breeding season the 
old males remain on shore, fasting all the while, 
and growing extremely thin, living by absorption 
of the blubber which they accumulate while at 
sea, so that upon retiring at the end of the season 
they are but a mere shadow of their former selves. 
They return again the next season, however, as 
plethoric as ever. 

"All the bulls," says Mr. Elliott, "from the 
very first, that have been able to hold their posi- 
tions, have not left them from the moment of 
their landing, for a single instant, night or day ; 
nor will they do so until the end of the rutting 
season, which subsides entirely between August 
1st and 10th. It begins shortly after the coming 
of the cows in early June. Of necessity, there- 
fore, this causes them to fast, to abstain entirely 
from food of any kind, or water, for three months 
at least ; and a few of them actually stay out four 
months, in total abstinence, before going back 
into the ocean for the first time after i hauling 
up.' They then return as so many bony shadows 



ON THE BREEDING GROUNDS. 157 

of what they were a few months previously, cov- 
ered with wounds ; abject and spiritless, they labo- 
riously crawl back to the sea to obtain a fresh lease 
of life." 

The natural food of the seal is believed to be 
small fishes and kelp, that prolific product of the 
ocean which is found floating in nearly all lati- 
tudes, being torn from its rocky bed by storms 
and carried everywhere on the tides and currents. 
The females seldom give birth to more than one at 
a time, and though they are naturally a very do- 
cile animal, the mother will fight savagely for her 
young. The old males weigh from two to three 
hundred pounds each, when they first land, soon 
gathering a harem about them of a dozen females 
or more, and permitting no other bull to approach 
the circle. There are occasional elopements among 
the females, enticed away by young bachelor seals, 
who have no family ties to occupy them, but as 
a rule the females remain loyal, at least during 
the season. The full grown male reaches seven 
feet in length, and the female about five feet ; the 
latter averages about a hundred pounds in weight, 
the former weigh twice as much and often more. 
Nature seems to produce a much larger number 
of females than of males, besides which the law 
protects the female from the hunter. The killing 
of these animals on St. Paul and St. George is 
nearly all done in six weeks of each year, say 
from the 10th of June to the 20th of July. As 
regards the fur, a seal at four years of age is 
thought to yield the best, and is therefore con- 



158 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

sidered to be at that time in bis prime. It is the 
males of this age, accordingly, which are selected 
for slaughter. So numerous are these animals 
that the shore is often black with them, three or 
four thousand being in sight within the space of a 
hundred square rods. The pups are full of play- 
fulness, rolling and tumbling about like a litter of 
kittens. The rule not to kill the old bulls and 
female young is a necessary precaution to prevent 
the extermination of the race, which indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter has probably done in so many other 
places. 



CHAPTER XL 

Enormous Slaughter of Seals. — Manner of Killing. — Battles 
between the Bulls. — A Mythical Island. — The Seal as Food. 
— The Sea-Otter. — A Rare and Valuable Fur. — The Baby 
Sea-Otter. — Great Breeding-Place of Birds. — Banks of the 
Yukon River. — Fur - Bearing Land Animals. — Aggregate 
Value of the Trade. — Character of the Native Race. 

Surgeon J. B. Parker tells us in a published 
article upon the fur-seals of Alaska, that just 
previous to the transfer of the country to this 
government five hundred thousand sealskins were 
being taken from these islands annually, though it 
was pretended by the Russians that they restricted 
the number to one quarter of this total. The 
strange instinct of the animals which causes them 
to return yearly in such marvelous numbers to be 
slaughtered is a mystery difficult to solve. Per- 
sistent cruelty exercised towards them for a cen- 
tury has not disturbed their affection for this 
chosen breeding-place of their ancestors in Behr- 
ing Sea. 

The seals are universally killed by a sharp blow 
upon the head from a club, which fractures the 
skull and produces instant death. The natives 
are so skillful in dealing this blow that a second 
one is not necessary, and the seal cannot reason- 
ably be supposed to suffer any pain, so that the 
operation is robbed of all cruel features. The fre- 



160 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

quent battles fought between the old bulls to main- 
tain possession of their chosen ground and their 
harems are represented to be of the fiercest char- 
acter, sometimes ending in the death of one of the 
combatants, though they are so very hardy and 
tenacious of life that this is by no means common. 
The breeding season is at its height in the middle 
of July. Early in September, the pups having 
learned to swim, the " rookeries " are gradually 
broken up for the season, old and young departing 
together for the deep-sea feeding grounds, nothing 
being seen of them again as a body until the fol- 
lowing May or June. It is quite a mystery as to 
where they go, but that they promptly disperse in 
various directions seems most probable, as no seals 
are met with in large numbers by navigators of 
the Pacific or the South Seas, and they only land 
for breeding purposes. The author has seen a few 
in the month of March off the Samoan group of 
islands, also in the month of December near the 
coast of Cochin China. And again, in crossing 
the Indian Ocean from Bombay to the mouth of 
the Ked Sea, in February, an occasional head of 
the fur-seal would appear above the surface of the 
ocean, showing how widely dispersed these ani- 
mals are. There is a theory which has long ex- 
isted, to the effect that when the seals depart from 
Behring Sea they seek a lonely island group in the 
central Pacific Ocean, somewhere between 53° and 
55° north latitude, and longitude 160° to 170° 
west, where they pass their winter months in peace 
and plenty. Expeditions have been fitted out at 



"ALASKA PARK." 161 

San Francisco for the purpose of discovering these 
possible islands, but no one has ever seen them. 
Those most conversant with seal-life do not enter- 
tain this supposition, and for good reasons. If any 
such land existed, in the region designated, it would 
surely have been discovered, as it is too near the 
direct track of commerce not to have been sighted 
long ago. 

The flesh of the fur-seal is eaten by the natives, 
and the blubber also serves for fuel, as well as fur- 
nishing a much-used oil. The stench of the burn- 
ing fat is extremely disgusting to one not accus- 
tomed to it. There is but little lean meat on the 
animal ; nearly the whole body is composed of 
blubber. The whites eat the flesh of the young 
seal, which is not unpalatable when properly pre- 
pared, and is called Alaska pork. When the fe- 
males arrive at the "rookeries," like the old males, 
they are in remarkably good flesh, so much so, in- 
deed, as to render locomotion difficult ; but though 
they do not fast like the bulls, they nevertheless 
become quite thin by the end of the season. 

St. George and St. Paul islands contain about 
three hundred and fifty Aleuts, whose sole busi- 
ness is killing and skinning the seals, and after- 
wards salting and packing the pelts for shipment. 
They are all in the regular employment of the Com- 
mercial Company, which leases the islands. By 
the terms of the lease from our government, only 
natives of the Aleutian group of islands can be em- 
ployed to kill the seals ; no whites except the over- 
seers are permitted to remain on the two islands. 



162 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

An agent of the United States occasionally visits 
them to see that the spirit of the lease is faithfully 
adhered to ; otherwise they are quite isolated from 
the outer world. Under the protective system, 
which is presumedly adhered to, the number of 
seals is said to be on the increase, and the space 
on the shores which they occupy is enlarged yearly. 
It has been officially estimated, after actual in- 
spection, that over one million seals are born 
on these islands every year. It is asserted that 
double the number of pelts now authorized could 
safely be taken from the Pribyloff group annually, 
and it would certainly seem so, when this extraor- 
dinary fecundity is realized. But it must also be 
taken into consideration that man is not the only 
enemy which the fur-seal has to encounter. When 
the young ones leave the shore to begin their deep- 
sea life, they become the prey of many marine 
cormorants, among which the shark is said to be 
the most active. This tiger of the ocean does not 
attack the large, full-grown seals, who are too 
wary and active for him, but the young ones often 
fill his capacious maw. 

The aborigines employed upon the seal islands 
do not reach a very old age ; persons of over fifty 
years are seldom found among them. Consump- 
tion is the most fatal disease which they en- 
counter ; this runs its course with singular speed 
after being once contracted. All attempts of the 
physicians are in vain ; the patient, falling into 
a condition of hopeless indifference, soon passes 
away. We were told that the natives of Alaska 



THE SEA-OTTER. 163 

generally were very difficult; to treat medically, ig- 
noring the benefit of medicines, and generally 
refusing to take them. These semi-savages will 
not hesitate to resort to incantations to exorcise 
evil spirits (or disease, which to them is the same 
thing), but they fear to use the white man's agent 
to remove these evil influences. 

For a number of years the manufacture of oil 
from seal blubber was followed by the fur com- 
pany with profit, thus disposing of the carcasses 
of the animals whose skin had been removed ; but 
oil-making on the seal islands has been discon- 
tinued, as being no longer a paying business. 

The _ sea-otter is a large animal, having fine, 
close black fur, sprinkled with long, white-tipped 
hairs, which strongly individualize it and add 
much to its beauty. Its pelt is used mostly for 
trimming, being both too heavy and too expensive 
for making up into entire garments. The size of 
a full-grown skin is about four feet in length by 
about two and a half wide. It is a solitary marine 
animal, never seen in numbers, rarely even with 
a mate, and is extremely sh}% demanding great 
patience and shrewdness in the hunter to insure 
its capture. This animal rarely lands except to 
bring forth its young, and the natives say that it 
sometimes gives birth to its progeny on floating 
sedge or kelp at sea. Of this material the ingen- 
ious creature makes a sort of buoyant nest, ac- 
cording to the natives' ideas. When sleeping, it 
floats upon its back, carrying its young clasped 
to its body in a ludicrously human fashion. The 



164 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Indians hunt the animals by going out a consid 
erable distance to sea in their frail canoes, and 
watching for the appearance of the otter's nose 
above the water, they paddle silently towards it 
so as not to disturb the game. At the proper 
moment the well-balanced and delicate lance 
is thrown with unerring aim. A careful watch 
is then kept for the reappearance of the otter, 
which must soon come to the surface to breathe, 
being a warm-blooded, respiratory animal. A 
second lance is pretty sure to disable the otter, 
when it floats helpless on the surface, falling an 
easy prey to the pursuer. At times six or eight 
natives in single canoes join in the hunt, so as to 
form a broad circle ; the nearest one to the otter 
when he rises after being wounded is the one to 
throw the second lance. The hunters obtain from 
the local traders between forty and fifty dollars 
for a full-grown otter skin, and sometimes double 
that amount, so that if successful in the pursuit 
they are well rewarded for many hours of pa- 
tient watchfulness, aside from which they realize 
a keen enjoyment in the pursuit as sportsmen. 

The hunters oftenest pursue their game alone, 
and if a native secures an otter after a whole week 
of watching he feels well repaid, though during 
that time he has lived on a scanty supply of food, 
and has slept nightly in the open air exposed to 
the rain. Sometimes his watch is kept in his 
boat upon the sea, and sometimes among the 
rocks on the shore, in a bay where the otters are 
known to resort occasionally. A few years of 



THE FUR OF THE SEA-OTTER. 165 

such rough life and exposure ages even an Alaskan 
Indian, and it is not surprising that rheumatism 
and consumption should so prevail among them. 
Up to a certain stage such a life may harden the 
hunter, but the turning-point comes at last, and 
when the native begins to fail in physical strength 
he does so rapidly; simply giving way to the 
first attack, rejecting all medicine which the 
white man may offer, and unless he is an impor- 
tant member of his tribe, a chief or, a leader of 
some sort, even the shaman or medicine man with 
his incantations is not called in. Good nursing is 
discarded, the invalid considers it to be his fate to 
die, and seems to go half way to meet the grim 
destroyer. 

The fur of the sea-otter varies in beauty of 
texture and value according to the animal's age 
and the season of the year in which it is captured. 
They are considered to be in their prime when 
about five years old, and those skins which are 
taken in winter are always of a more beautiful 
texture than those which are secured in summer. 
Of all animals hunted by man it is most on the 
alert, and, as we have said, most difficult to ob- 
tain. One intelligent statement declares that be- 
fore they were so systematically hunted eight 
thousand skins were shipped from Alaska in a 
single year, but we believe that from four to five 
thousand otter skins would be considered a good 
twelve months' yield in these days. The Saanack 
islets and reefs are the principal resort of these 
animals on the coast, and hither the natives come 



y 



166 THE NEW ELDORADO. 



from long distances to hunt them, camping on the 
main island. Frequent attempts have been made 
to rear the young sea-otter, specimens being often 
taken when the mother is captured, but they al- 
ways perish by starvation, never partaking of 
food after being separated from the mother ; a 
well-known fact, which was referred to with not a 
little sentiment by the experienced hunter who 
related the circumstance to us. " Him die of 
broke heart," said the native, attempting an ex- 
pression of tenderness upon his egg-shaped fea- 
tures, which proved a ludicrous caricature. We 
saw a stuffed specimen of a young sea-otter in a 
native cabin at Juneau, consisting of the skin 
only, but very cleverly mounted and preserved by 
the hunter who had captured its mother. 

It is somewhat singular that the world's sup- 
ply of otter fur, like that of sealskin, comes almost 
entirely from the coast of Alaska, in the North 
Pacific and Behring Sea. Otter fur may be said to 
be almost confined in its geographical distribution 
to the northwest shores of America. 

The successful pursuit of the animal, so far as 
the natives are concerned, is of even more impor- 
tance than that of the fur-seals, for contingent 
upon its chase, and from the proceeds of its pelts, 
some five thousand natives are enabled to live in 
comparative luxury. It requires, as we have 
shown, great energy, hardihood, and patient ap- 
plication to effect its capture, but the sea-otter is 
a most beneficent gift of Providence to these ab- 
origines, and administers, as well, to the pride of 



BIRDS. 167 

the fashionable world. The natives in former 
times attached great importance to preparing 
themselves for hunting the sea-otter, fasting, bath- 
ing, and performing certain mystic rites before 
embarking for the purpose. After his return 
from a successful hunt the Aleut was accustomed 
to destroy the garments which he wore during the 
expedition, throwing them into the sea, so that 
the otters might find them and come to the con- 
clusion that their late persecutor had been 
drowned and there was no further danger in fre- 
quenting the shore. This practice, ridiculous as 
it seems to us, serves to illustrate the superstitious 
character of the Alaskan natives, who seldom fail 
to see omens in the most trifling every-day occur- 
rences. 

The interior and northern parts of Alaska are 
the greatest breeding - places for birds in the 
world, being the resort of innumerable flocks, 
which come from various parts of this continent, 
and others which make the tropical islands their 
home a large portion of the year on both the 
Atlantic and Pacific sides of America. These 
myriads of the feathered tribes consist largely of 
geese, ducks, and swans, coming hither for nest- 
ing, and to fatten upon the wild salmon berries, 
red and black currants, cranberries, blackberries, 
bilberries, and the like, which greatly abound dur- 
ing the brief but intense Arctic summer. There 
are eleven kinds of edible berries which mature in 
August, among which the wild strawberries are 
the finest flavored we have ever eaten. It is said 



168 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

that the geese especially become so fat feeding 
upon the plentiful supply of wholesome food that 
at the close of the season they can hardly fly, and 
are thus easily caught by the natives, who, in 
turn, feast luxuriously upon their tender and suc- 
culent flesh. Explorers tell us that they have 
seen on the banks of the Yukon — the great river 
of central Alaska, and the third in magnitude 
in America — the breeding-place of the canvas- 
back ducks, which has been heretofore a matter 
of some mystery. They prepare on the banks 
of this northern watercourse broad platforms of 
sedge, mingled with small twigs and bushes, laid 
compactly on marshy places, and without build- 
ing a carefully arranged nest deposit their eggs 
in untold numbers. That keen and scientific 
observer, the late Major Kennicott, says he saw 
on the banks of the Yukon acres of marshy 
ground thus covered with the eggs of the canvas- 
back ducks, in numbers defying computation. 
" The region drained by the Upper Yukon is 
spoken of by explorers," says Mr. Charles Hal- 
lock, editor of " Forest and Stream," " as being 
a perfect Eden, where flowers bloom, beneficent 
plants yield their berries and fruits, majestic 
trees spread their umbrageous fronds, and song- 
birds make the branches vocal. The water of the 
streams is pure and pellucid ; the blue of the rip- 
pled lake is like Geneva's ; their banks resplen- 
dent with verdure, and with grass and shining 
pebbles." 

At the first approach of winter the augmented 



THE HAIR-SEAL. 169 

millions of birds take flight for the low latitudes, 
or their homes in the temperate zone, the old 
birds accompanied by the broods which they have 
hatched in the solitudes of the far north. Those 
which have come from the neighborhood of the 
Caribbean Sea turn in their flight unerringly in 
that direction ; those from the South Pacific 
islands heading as surely for that tropical region. 
Onjy_the ptarmigan and the Arctic owl, with a 
few of the white-hawk family, remain to brave 
the winter cold of northern Alaska, with the 
hardy Eskimo, the walrus, and the polar bear. 
The smaller tribes of birds are well represented 
here in the summer season, even including several 
species of swallows, martins, and sparrows, these 
tiny creatures seeming to follow some general 
bird instinct. Even the domestic robin is seen as 
far north as Sitka. Limited scientific research 
has recognized and classified one hundred and 
ninety -two different kinds of birds which are 
found in this Territory, a considerable number of 
which were unknown to science previous to 1867. 
We have said nothing relative to the hair-seals, 
or sea-lions, of Alaska, because their importance 
is comparatively insignificant, having no commer- 
cial value. Nevertheless, they are utilized by 
the ingenious natives in various ways ; the hides 
serve as a covering for a certain class of boats, 
made with wooden frames, and are also employed 
for several domestic purposes. The walrus is 
found in largest numbers on the north coast, in 
the true Arctic region, affording some valuable 



170 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

oil, together with considerable ivory, in carving 
which the natives are very expert. Though the 
fur-trade of the land is by no means equal to that 
of the sea, still its aggregate results are very con- 
siderable. It employs numerous hunters and 
gives profitable business to many white traders, 
nearly all of whom make a permanent home in 
the Territory. Undoubtedly the most prolific 
and valuable fur-yielding district on the main- 
land is the valley of the Yukon, where the beaver, 
marten, seyeral kinds of bears, with the wolf and 
fox, afford the best fur. We saw at the princi- 
pal store in Wrangel many packages of bearskins 
prepared for shipment to San Francisco. These 
packages would average five hundred dollars each 
in value, and had been gathered from those 
brought in by the natives during the two weeks 
intervening between the arrival of the regular 
steamers. Single bearskins sell here, according to 
their marketable character, for from twenty-five to 
thirty-five dollars each. The natives make little 
or no use of these skins, preferring the woolen 
blanket of commerce. The red and cross fox is 
found everywhere in the Territory, and its skin is 
comparatively cheap. It is singular that the blue 
fox is found only on the islands of St. Paul, St. 
George, Attoo, and Atkha, while the white fox is 
to be sought only at the far north. There is also 
the black fox, which, however, is a great rarity, 
thought to be an occasional accident of nature; 
the skins always bring extravagant prices from 
the traders. The black fox is not found in any 



THE FUR-TRADE. 171 

special locality, but occurs now and again in any 
part of the Territory. The skin of the silver fox 
is also highly prized, and proves a valuable peltry 
to the native hunters, forty dollars each being 
the usual price paid by the white traders. Only 
a few hundred are taken yearly. The land-otter 
and the beaver so abound as to make up a large 
total value annually. The latest official records 
show that there has been produced and shipped 
from Alaska annually an average of fifty-seven 
thousand beaver skins ; eighteen thousand land- 
otter skins ; seventy-one thousand foxes' skins of 
the various sorts ; and of musk-rats two hundred 
and twenty-one thousand. These figures should 
be largely added to in each instance (we were 
told by one official that this aggregate estimate 
should be doubled), in order to include the un- 
registered pelts which are annually secured by 
various hunters, both whites and natives, and 
which find their way to distant markets through 
irregular channels, more especially over the bor- 
ders of British Columbia. 

This fur-trade is open to all, but requires capi- 
tal, organization, and persistency to make it profit- 
able. The natives do nearly all of the hunting 
and trapping, and will only engage in it, as a rule, 
to supply themselves with means to procure cer- 
tain luxuries from the trader's store, such as sugar, 
tea, and tobacco. We are sorry to add to these 
comparative necessities the article of whiskey, 
which is only too often furnished illicitly to the 
eager natives. When these wants are supplied 



172 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

they idle away their time until stimulated once 
more by their necessities to go upon the trail of 
the fur-bearing animals. Of course there are some 
exceptions to this, many of them being steady and 
willing workers, but we speak of the average na- 
tive. There is no fear of the supply of furs being 
exhausted under this system of capture ; even a 
combined and vigorous effort on the part of the 
hunters could not accomplish that in many years. 
Unlike our western Indians, these Alaskans are 
a comparatively thrifty race, entirely self-sustain- 
ing, and never require support from the govern- 
ment, notwithstanding idleness is their besetting 
sin, as is, indeed, characteristic of uncivilized peo- 
ple everywhere. 

We were told of several of these aborigines who 
had learned the lesson of thrift from the whites 
to such good effect as to have saved sums of 
money varying from one to five hundred dollars, 
which they had deposited in the Savings Bank of 
San Francisco, and upon which they drew their 
annual interest ; an investment, the safety and 
economy of which they fully appreciated. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Climate of Alaska. — Ample Grass for Domestic Cattle. — Win- 
ter and Summer Seasons. — The Japanese Current. — Tem- 
perature in the Interior. — The Eskimos. — Their Customs. 
— Their Homes. — These Arctic Regions once Tropical. — 
The Mississippi of Alaska. — Placer Mines. — The Natives. — 
Strong Inclination for Intoxicants. 

It is a well-known fact, proven by official ob- 
servations, that the climate of the Pacific coast is 
considerably more temperate than that of the 
same latitude on the Atlantic side of the conti- 
nent. The record of ten consecutive years, kept 
at Sitka, gave an annual mean of 46° Fah. 

This is in latitude 57° 3' north, and is found by 
comparison to be four degrees warmer than the 
average of Portland, Me., or six degrees warmer 
than the temperature of Quebec, Canada. The 
average winter is milder, therefore, at Sitka than 
it is at Boston, however singular the assertion 
may at first strike us, in connection with the com- 
monly entertained idea of this northwestern Ter- 
ritory. The mean winter temperature of Sitka 
and Newport, R. I., are very nearly the same, and 
there is only a difference of six degrees in their 
mean yearly temperature, though there is a differ- 
ence of sixteen degrees of latitude. 

We have before us a printed letter which ap- 
peared in the " Philadelphia Press," signed by 



174 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Mr. C. F. Fowler, late an agent of the Alaska 
Fur Company, who has resided for twelve years 
in Alaska, in which he says : " You who live in 
the States look upon this country as a land of per- 
petual ice and snow, yet I grew in my garden last 
year, at Kodiak, abundant crops of radishes, let- 
tuce, carrots, onions, cauliflowers, cabbages, peas, 
turnips, potatoes, beets, parsnips, and celery. 
Within five miles of this garden was one of the 
largest glaciers in Alaska." In a certain sense it 
is surely a country of paradoxes. 

The harbor of Sitka is never closed by ice, 
which cannot be truthfully said of Boston or New 
York. 

Dr. Sheldon Jackson, long resident . in the Ter- 
ritory as United States general agent of educa- 
tion for Alaska, tells us that the temperature of 
Sitka and that of Richmond, Va., are nearly iden- 
tical. Mr. McLean of the United States Signal 
Service, who has been located at Sitka for several 
years, says, " the climate of southern Alaska is 
the most equable I ever experienced." 

There is in Alaska a very large section of coun- 
try, composed of islands and the mainland, where 
the average temperature is higher than at Chris- 
tiania, capital of Norway, or Stockholm, capital 
of Sweden, — where the winters are milder and 
the fall of rain and snow is less than in southern 
Scandinavia, which is the geographical counter- 
part of Alaska in the opposite hemisphere. Sitka 
harbor is no more subject to arctic temperature 
than is Chesapeake Bay. " It must be a fastidi- 



TEMPERATURE. 175 

ous person," said Mr. Seward in bis speech upon 
Alaska, " who complains of a climate in which, 
while the eagle delights to soar, the humming- 
bird does not disdain to flutter." If it is some- 
times misty and foggy on the coast, it is not so to 
a greater extent than is the case during a large 
portion of the year in the cities of London and 
Liverpool. 

Both the islands and mainland of this latitude 
afford ample grass for cows, sheep, and horses, 
also producing, with ordinary care, the usual do- 
mestic vegetables, as we have shown, the asser- 
tion of certain writers to the contrary notwith- 
standing. We have not far to look for the cause 
of this favorable temperature existing at so norths 
erly a range of latitude. The thermal stream 
known as the Japanese Current, coming from the 
far south charged with equatorial heat, is precisely 
similar in its effect to that of the better known 
Gulf Stream on our Atlantic coast, rendering the 
climate of these islands and the coast of the main- 
land of the North Pacific remarkably warm and 
humid. We speak especially and at length of this 
subject of the temperature of Alaska, because a 
wrong impression is so generally held concerning 
it. At a distance from the coast the temperature 
falls, and most of the inland rivers are closed by 
ice half the year. Even in the interior we are in 
about the same latitude and average temperature 
of St. Petersburg. Thus on the line of Behring 
Strait the annual mean at Fort Yukon, which lies 
just inside of the Arctic circle, six hundred miles 



176 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

inland from Norton Sound, is 16.92° ; this is in 
latitude 64° north. Along the coast of southern 
Alaska the fall of snow is not greater in amount 
than is experienced during an ordinary winter in 
the New England States, and it disappears even 
more quickly than it does in Vermont and New 
Hampshire. In the interior and at the far north, 
the quantity of snow is of course much greater, 
and covers the ground for about half the year. 

But where the sun shines continuously through- 
out the twenty-four hours, the growth of vegetable 
life is extremely rapid. The snow has hardly dis- 
appeared before a mass of herbage springs up, and 
on the spot so lately covered by a white sheet, 
sparkling with frosty crystals, there is spread a 
soft mantle of variegated green. The leaves, blos- 
soms, and fruits rapidly follow each other, so that 
even in this boreal region there is seed-time and 
harvest. The annual recurrence of this carnival 
season is all the more impressive in the realm of 
the Frost King. 

The Japanese Current, already referred to, 
strikes these shores at Queen Charlotte Island in 
latitude 50° north, where it divides, one portion 
going northward and westward along the coast of 
Alaska, and the other southward, tempering the 
waters which border upon Washington, Oregon, 
and California; hence their mild climate. Sea 
captains who frequently make the voyage between 
San Francisco and Yokohama have told the au- 
thor that this Japanese Current — with banks 
and bottom of cold water, while its body and sur- 



DIVERSITY OF CLIMATE. 177 

face are warm — is so clearly defined as to be dis- 
tinguishable in color from the ordinary hue of the 
Pacific Ocean, and that its deep blue forms a visi- 
ble line of demarcation between the greater body 
and itself along its entire course. The thermom- 
eter will easily define such a current, and this the 
author has often seen demonstrated from a ship's 
deck ; but it must be a very keen eye that can dis- 
tinguish such differences of color at sea as the 
above assertion would indicate. 

In so extended a territory as that of Alaska, 
with broad plains, deep valleys, and lofty moun- 
tain ranges, it is reasonable to suppose there must 
be a great diversity of climate. The brief in- 
land summer is represented to exhibit marked 
extremes of heat, and the winter corresponding 
extremes of cold. W. H. Dall, an undoubted au- 
thority in all matters relating to the valley of the 
Yukon, though his book upon the country was 
publisbed some twenty years since, says : u At 
Fort Yukon I have seen the thermometer at noon, 
not in the direct rays of the sun, stand at 112°, and 
I was informed by the commander of the post 
that several spirit thermometers graded up to 
120° had burst under the scorching sun of the 
Arctic midsummer." Fort Yukon is the most 
northerly point in Alaska inhabited by white men. 
It is estimated that ten or twelve thousand Eski- 
mos live in the uninviting region north of the Yu- 
kon valley. They are a most remarkable people, 
who are struggling with the cold three quarters of 
the year, and who seem to be strangely content 



178 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

with a bare existence. Their days and nights, 
their seasons and years, are not like those of the 
rest of the world. Six months of day is succeeded 
by six months of night. They have three months 
of sunless winter, three months of nightless sum- 
mer, and six months of gloomy twilight. No 
Christian enlightenment or religious teaching of 
any sort has ever found its way into this region. 
The people believe in evil spirits and powers who 
are in some way to be propitiated, but have no 
conception of a Divine Being who overrules all 
things for good. Like the southern Alaskans they 
are superstitious to the last degree, and discover 
omens in the most ordinary occurrences. The 
decencies of life are almost totally disregarded 
among them, their highest purpose being appar- 
ently the achievement of animal comfort and 
gorging themselves with food and oil. 

Their sky is famous for its beautiful auroral dis- 
play — gorgeous pyrotechnics of nature — in the 
long, chill winter night, when a brilliant arch spans 
the heavens from east to west, marked with oscil- 
lating hues of yellow, blue, green, and violet, ren- 
dering everything light as day for a few moments, 
then falling back into darkness. So off the coast 
of Norway among the Lofoden Islands, the hardy 
men who pursue the cod-fishery in that region, 
during the winter season, depend upon the Aurora 
Borealis to light their midnight labor, that being 
considered the most favorable hour of the twenty- 
four to secure the fish. Without this nocturnal 
meteoric illumination, it would be darkness indeed 
in the polar regions for half the year. 



THE ESKIMOS. 179 

This phenomenon in its Arctic development is 
so much intensified as to quite belittle the exhi- 
bition with which we are familiar in New Eng- 
land, and which is called the Northern Lights. 

It is certainly very odd that these boreal natives, 
the Eskimos proper, should have precisely the 
same mode of salutation which the New Zealand 
Maoris practice, though they are separated by so 
many thousand miles of ocean, namely, the rubbing 
of noses together between two persons who desire 
to evince pleasure at meeting. No matter how oily 
the Eskimo's nose may be, or however dirty the 
Maori's face, to decline this mode of salutation 
when offered is to give mortal offense, either in 
tropical New Zealand or in arctic Alaska, at 
Point Barrow or at Ohinemutu. " The home of 
the Eskimos," says Bancroft, in his excellent work 
on the natives of the Pacific coast, "is a model of 
filth and freeness. Coyness is not one of their 
vices, nor is modesty ranked among their virtues. 
The latitude of innocency characterizes all their 
social relations ; they refuse to do nothing in pub- 
lic that they would do in private." They seem to 
live in a primitive state, without craving anything 
of the white man's possessions, except tobacco and 
rum, which are smuggled to them by contraband- 
ists, who come on to the coast to trade for furs and 
ivory. This class of traders, sailing from San 
Francisco, and stopping at the Hawaiian Islands 
to procure a few hogsheads of the vilest intoxicant 
which is made, pass along the northern coast of 
Alaska, touching at certain places where they are 



180 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

expected annually. The walrus not only sup- 
plies the Eskimo with food, but its tusks are 
used as the common currency among them, and 
are secured in considerable quantities by the il- 
licit traders. The encroachment of unscrupulous 
contrabandists renders the utter -extinction of the 
walrus only a question of time. It is to be re- 
gretted that the wholesale slaughter of this ani- 
mal cannot be prevented. If this coula be brought 
about, as in the instance of the fur-seal, we might 
continue to get ivory from the shores of the 
Frozen Sea for all time. The natural enemy of 
the walrus is the polar bear, but his most relent- 
less pursuer is man. 

These Eskimos wrap their dead in skins closely 
sewed and lay them in the tundra, together with 
the worldly possessions of the deceased, without 
any funeral ceremonies. It would be sacrilege 
for any one to disturb this property left with the 
body, and no member of the tribe would think of 
doing so. 

In the Yukon Valley the remains of elephants 
and buffaloes are found fossilized, as those of the 
rhinoceros were discovered on the opposite conti- 
nent in Siberia, thus showing that this now 
arctic region was once tropical, a conclusion, 
nevertheless, which seems to be almost impossible 
to the traveler while gazing upon Niagaras of 
frozen rivers in the month of July. 

The Yukon River is the Mississippi of Alaska, 
forming with its several tributaries the great in- 
land highway of the Territory. As yet there are 



V_ 



THE YUKON RIVER 181 

no roads in the country, everything is transported 
by water or on the backs of the natives ; the great 
importance of such an extensive water-way can 
therefore be readily understood. The magnitude 
of the Yukon — one of the twelve longest rivers 
in the world — will be realized by the fact that 
it is still a matter of doubt among different writ- 
ers which of the two rivers named is the largest 
with respect to the volume of their currents, 
though Ivan Petroff, in his report as agent of the 
Secretary of the Interior, speaks thus confidently 
upon the subject : " The people of the United 
States will not be quick to take the idea that the, 
volume of water in an Alaskan river is greater 
than that discharged by their own Mississippi ; 
but it is entirely within the bounds of honest 
statement to say that the Yukon River, the vast 
deltoid mouth of which opens into Norton Sound, 
of Behring Strait, discharges every hour of re- 
corded, time as much, if not one third more, water, 
than the 'Father of Waters' as it flows to the 
Gulf of Mexico." 

This writer does not seem to us given to exag- 
geration, but still we are a little inclined to question 
the accuracy of his estimate as to the volume of 
water borne seaward by this great Alaskan river. 

The Yukon rises in the Rocky Mountain range 
of British Columbia; entering Alaska at about 
64° north latitude, and pursuing its course nearly 
from east to west across the entire Territory, it 
finally empties, as stated, into Behring Strait 
through Norton Sound. The river is navigable for 









182 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

fifteen to eighteen hundred miles, while its entire 
length is computed at over two thousand miles, with 
an average width of five miles for half the distance 
from its mouth. There are several places on the 
lower Yukon where one bank is invisible from 
the other. It is seventy-five miles across its five 
mouths and the intersecting deltas. At some 
places, six or seven hundred miles inland, the 
river expands to twenty miles in breadth, thus 
forming in the interior a series of connected lakes, 
which explorers pronounce to be deep and navi- 
gable in all parts. This great water-way can only 
be said to have been partially explored, but those 
persevering pioneers who have made the attempt 
to unravel its mysteries have given us extremely 
interesting details of their experiences, all uniting 
in bearing witness that its banks are rich in fur- 
bearing animals, and that its waters are stocked 
with an abundance of fish, including the all-per- 
vading salmon. These valuable fishes follow the 
same instinct which they exhibit in other parts of 
the world, in their annual pilgrimage of reproduc- 
tion, that is, after entering a river's mouth, to 
advance as far as possible towards its source. 
Besides fish and fur-bearing animals, the region 
through which the Yukon flows contains abundant 
deposits of gold, silver, copper, nickel, and bitu- 
minous coal. Some placer gold mines which 
were worked on its banks and in its shallows, so 
long as the season permitted, are credibly reported 
to have yielded to one party of prospectors 
nearl} T eighty dollars per day to each man. 



THE INLAND TRIBES. 183 

The trouble to be encountered in working these 
placers is owing to their remoteness from all sources 
of supply, and the exposure to the long winters 
which prevail in the placer gold-producing regions. 
These are obstacles, however, which will one of 
these days be overcome by the erection of suitable 
shelter, and a rich new mining field will thus be 
permanently opened. There are a number of 
trading-posts along the course of the Yukon at 
which white men reside permanently to traffic 
with the natives, purchasing furs from such as will 
hunt ; and there are many who are represented to 
be industrious and provident, supplying the whites 
with meat and fish as well as with pelts, fully ap- 
preciating the advantage of steady habits and reg- 
ular wages. In this respect the inland tribes dif- 
fer materially from most of those living on the 
coast ; the latter care little for work or wages until 
they are driven by necessity to seek employment. 
We speak in general terms ; there are of course 
many worthy exceptions, but savage races have 
little idea of thrift, and like the wild animals are 
aroused to action only by the demands of hunger. 
In equatorial regions where the nutritious fruits 
are so abundant that the natives have only to 
pluck and to eat, they are sluggish, dirty, and 
heedless, living only for the present hour. In this 
Arctic region where the sea is crowded with food 
and the fields are covered with berries, the same 
listlessness prevails as regards the future with 
nine out of ten of the aborigines. These remarks 
do not apply to the Aleuts, from whom the Com- 



184 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

mercial Company obtains its workmen. These 
are mostly half-breeds, who are far more civilized 
than are our Western Indians. 

The proprietors of the Treadwell gold mine, 
Douglass Island, and of the works at Silver Bow 
Basin, employ large numbers of the natives, find- 
ing them to be reliable and industrious laborers. 

" Where we can separate these Alaskan natives 
from the objectionable influences which are apt to 
grow up in populous centres, and especially from 
multitudes of adventurous miners who come from 
a distance, we find them to be faithful and tracta- 
ble workers," said an employer to us. 

" How about the Chinese ? " we asked. 

" They are excellent workers," was the reply. 
" Set them a task, show them how to perform it, 
and it will surely be done. They are almost like 
automatons in this respect and require no watch- 
ing." 

" Then why not employ them more generally? " 

"Because of the prejudice, the unreasonable 
prejudice, against them. Our other workmen re- 
bel if we keep many Chinamen on the pay-roll." 

This corresponded exactly with the author's 
experience elsewhere, in various parts of the world 
where the Chinese have sought a new home out- 
side of China. John is not perfect, but he is in- 
finitely superior to a large portion of the drinking, 
rowdy, and restless foreign element which fills so 
large a place in the labor field of this country. 

The greatest care is necessary to keep spiritu- 
ous liquors away from the aborigines, a craving 



NATIVE DESIRE FOR INTOXICANTS. 185 

for which is beyond their control where there is a 
possibility of its being obtained. When they fall 
under its influence they seem to utterly lose their 
senses, and become dangerous both to themselves 
and to the whites. As has been intimated, the 
only means of locomotion is afforded by the water- 
courses, and the natives, being excellent canoeists, 
find ample employment of this nature, both in 
traversing the rivers and along the shore of the 
islands. The waters of the Yukon, like those of 
the Neva at St. Petersburg, freeze to a depth of 
five or six feet in winter. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Sailing Northward. — Chinese Labor. — Unexplored Islands. — 
The Alexander Archipelago. — Rich Virgin Soil. — Fish Can- 
ning. — Myriads of Salmon. — Native Villages. — Reckless 
Habits. — Awkward Fashions and their Origin. — Tattooing 
Young Girls. — Peculiar Effect of Inland Passages. — Moun- 
tain Echoes. — Moonlight and Midnight on the Sea. 

Let us observe more order in these notes, and 
resume the course of our experiences in consecu- 
tive form. 

As we speed on our sinuous course northward, 
inhaling with delight the pure and balmy atmos- 
phere, bearing always a little westerly, winding 
through narrow channels which divide the richly 
wooded wilderness of islands, avoiding here and 
there the ambuscaded reefs, the pleasurable sen- 
sation is intense. The scenery, while in some 
respects similar to that of the St. Lawrence River 
and the Hudson of New York, is yet infinitely su- 
perior to either. After having reached latitude 
54° 40' we come upon Dixon Entrance, a reach 
of the sea which separates Alaska from British 
Columbia, and from this point we are sailing ex- 
clusively in the purple shadow of our own shore, 
and in the waters of the United States. At times 
we pass islands as large as the State of Massachu- 
setts, whose picturesque and irregular mountain- 
ous surfaces are covered with immemorial trees, 



NATURE ALONE ANTIQUE. 187 

and whose unknown interiors are believed to be 
rich in coal, iron, silver, and other metals. The 
axe has never echoed in the deep shade of these 
dense plantations of nature ; they form a pathless 
wilderness, solemn and silent, save for the stealthy 
tread of wild beasts, the mournful music of wav- 
ing pines, and the occasional notes of wandering 
seabirds. The migratory flocks of the tropics as 
a rule go farther north to raise their broods, but a 
few, weary of wing, shorten their aerial journey 
and build nests on these islands. For many cen- 
turies past the great columnar trees have grown 
to mammoth size, and have then fallen only by 
the weight of years, enriching the ground with 
their decayed substance and giving place to 
another similar growth, which, in its turn, has 
also flourished and passed aw~ay. How like the 
course of human races ! This process has been 
going on perhaps for twice ten thousand years. 
" Nature alone is antique," says Carlyle. The 
past history of Alaska, except for a comparatively 
short period, is a blank to the people of the nine- 
teenth century. 

Day after day there is a continuous and un- 
broken chain of mountain scenery. On the right 
of our course is a broad strip of the mainland, an 
Alpine region, thirty miles in width, which forms 
a part of southern Alaska, bounded on the east by 
British Columbia, and on the west by the many 
spacious islands, which create so perfect a break- 
water that the constant swell of the contiguous 
ocean is not felt. Some of these islands lie within 



188 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

a quarter of a mile of each other, on either side 
of our way, and yet the water is far too deep to 
admit of anchoring, the peaks rising abruptly 
from unknown depths to thousands of feet above 
the sea. The channels seem still more narrow 
from the great height of the mountains which line 
the course. The eye catches with delight the 
bright ribbons of waterfalls tumbling down their 
sides, in gleeful uproar, foaming and sparkling to- 
wards the depths below. These are fed by melt- 
ing snow and hidden lakes far up in the cloud- 
screened summits. Some of these waterfalls, 
narrow and swift, leap from point to point, now 
forming small cascades, and now continuing in a 
perpendicular form like a column of crystal. 
Others, so abrupt and precipitous are the heights 
from which they are launched, fall in an unbroken 
stream, clinging to the cliffs at first, but quickly 
expanding into a thin sheet rivaling the Bridal 
Veil of the Yosemite, and reaching the base in a 
constant gauzelike spray. 

The wide, open tracks seen now and then on 
the steep, thickly- wooded mountain sides, reaching 
from high up to the snow-line down to the very 
surface of the water, are the pathways swept by 
giant avalanches. What immense power and 
lightning-like speed are suggested by the broad, 
clean swath that is left ! The wind caused by 
the rushing avalanches is almost equally resist- 
less, the trees on either side of the track being 
torn into splinters by it. 

Now and again, above the tops of the giant 



THE ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO. 189 

pines, one can see moving objects on the exposed 
peaks and cliffs, almost too far away and too 
small for identification, but we know them to be 
wild mountain goats, — the Alaskan chamois, — 
quite safe from the hunters in these perilous 
heights, never trod by the foot of man. The ten- 
der glow of twilight enshrouding mountain peaks, 
emerald isles, and the gently throbbing bosom of 
the sea, added daily a witching charm to- a scene 
which already seemed perfect in beauty. 

The principal island group lying off the shore 
of southwestern Alaska is named the Alexander 
Archipelago, in honor of the Tzar of Russia. It ex- 
tends about three hundred miles north and south, 
and is seventy-five miles from east to west, em- 
bracing over eleven hundred islands, scarcely one 
of which has been explored. The group reaches 
from Dixon Entrance to Cross Sound, in latitude 
58° 25' north. Upon landing at one of these 
islands it was found to be covered by an impervi- 
ous forest ; the mass of timber and undergrowth 
was so compact as to defy our progress. The tan- 
gle of bushes, roots, vines, and branches formed 
almost as impenetrable a wall as though built of 
masonry. The wildest jungles of India are not 
more dense. Where not covered and hidden by 
trees, the earth was flecked here and there by 
the sun, being carpeted with moss and ferns so 
thickly spread as to form a spongy surface, upon 
which only the velvety feet of small wild animals 
could be sustained. A human pedestrian, were 
he to attempt to pass over it, would sink in this 



190 



THE NEW ELDORADO. 



W 



vegetable compound knee- deep at every step. 
There are no paths in these jungles ; the natives 
have no occasion to penetrate them, their living 
comes from the sea, and the river courses are their 
hunting grounds. 

This virgin soil, were it to be drained and 
cleared of trees, would be rich beyond calculation, 
while the climate is such as to warrant the growth 
and ripening of any vegetation which will thrive 
on the Atlantic coast north of Chesapeake Bay. 
One who has not seen it in Alaska knows not 
what rank and luxuriant forest undergrowth is. 
No tropical islands can surpass the Alexander 
Archipelago in this respect. Thus far no one has 
come to this region with the idea of testing its 
availability for agricultural purposes; it is other 
business which has attracted them. Nothing of 
any account has ever been done in the way of 
stock-raising, though the winters of southern Alas- 
ka, of Kodiak, and the Aleutian Islands are much 
milder than are those of Wyoming or northern 
Dakota, and there is plenty of food for innumera- 
ble herds all the year round. If government will 
but give the Territory of Alaska proper land laws, 
this region will promptly invite emigration, and 
be rapidly peopled by thrifty stock-growers. 

As we increase our northern latitude forests of 
tall cedars, spruce, and hemlock still line the 
shore of the mainland, and cover the countless 
islands with a mantle of softest green. It is not 
surprising that artists become enthusiastic over 
the infinite variety of shades found in these ver- 



FISH-CANNING. 191 

dant woods, an effect which we have never seen 
excelled even in equatorial regions. Gliding over 
the still, deep, pellucid surface of the ocean, we 
behold these cliffs, forests, and mountains, with 
coronets of snow reflected therein, as though there 
was another world below, like that above the rose- 
tinted sea. One finds almost exactly repeated 
here the bold, towering peaks, and low-lying rocky 
isles of the Lofoden group in the far North Sea 
of the opposite hemisphere, whose sharp, jagged 
pinnacles have been aptly compared to shark's 
teeth. 

Near Cape Fox, on the mainland, there are two 
large fish-canning establishments, where salmon 
are packed in one pound tin cases for shipment 
to distant markets, and in which a few Chinamen 
are employed. Some Indian women also find 
occupation in the establishment, while their hus- 
bands capture and bring in the fish in large quan- 
tities. This is a rapidly growing and profitable 
business in this region, there being already forty 
or fifty such factories along the coast and among 
the islands north of Cape Fox. 

Kasa-an Bay makes into Prince of Wales Isl- 
and twenty miles, more or less, from Clarence 
Strait. Here there are several villages of Kasa-an 
Indians. No spot on the coast is more famous for 
the abundance and excellence of its salmon ; at 
certain seasons the waters of the bay swarm with 
them. Here is a large cannery, or fish-packing 
station, where native women do most of the indoor 
work. Two thousand barrels of salted salmon 



192 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

were shipped from this bay last year. This was 
independent of those used in canning. There 
would seem to be no limit to the expansion of an 
industry that can furnish such desirable, every way 
wholesome, and nutritious food to be sold in all 
parts of the world. 

The North Pacific Trading and Packing Com- 
pany of San Francisco has been doing a profitable 
business on the coast for many years. In spite of 
government neglect, commerce is steadily increas- 
ing and developing Alaska ; it invades all zones, 
proving the greatest of civilizing agencies. Not 
only is it the equalizer of the wealth, but also of 
the intelligence, of nations, and this one branch. 
alone is gradually populating whole districts. 
When the active packing season is over there is 
still profitable employment for all. Some are oc- 
cupied in making the tin cans to hold one pound 
each ; others are taught to become coopers, fur- 
nishing the casks for shipping such fish as are 
split, salted, and exported in that form ; while oth- 
ers are occupied in making pine-wood boxes to 
contain two dozen each of the filled cans. Thus a 
well-conducted fish-packing establishment employs 
many people, and presents a busy scene all the 
year round. 

The salmon are so plenty in the regular season 
that an Indian will sometimes deliver at the can- 
ning factory three or four canoe-loads in a single 
day. They are mostly caught by net or seine, but 
often during the height of the season the natives 
absolutely shovel the salmon out of the water and 



BEARS. 193 

on to the shore with their paddle blades. We 
were told that as many as three thousand salmon, 
and even more, are sometimes taken at a single 
haul of the seine; also that fish of this species 
weighing from twenty to thirty pounds were com- 
mon here. Great numbers are discarded at the 
factories because they do not prove to be of the 
high pink color which is required hy the purchas- 
ers and consumers. It seems that the bears know 
ver} T well when the run of salmon commences, and 
that there are certain quie| inlets where the fish 
are sure to get crowded and jammed, so that Bruin 
has only to reach out his paws and draw one after 
another on to the shore and eat until he has his fill. 
The bear-paths leading to these spots are strongly 
marked, and the animals are thus easily tracked 
and shot by the hunters. It is the white men who 
capture them most generally, as the natives have 
some mysterious reverence and fear combined re- 
garding this animal. They do hunt them, how- 
ever, but shrive themselves of all sense of wrong 
by going through some mystic rites. Mr. Charles 
Hallock says : " There are bears enough in Alaska, 
grizzly, cinnamon, and black, to furnish eveiy man 
on the Pacific with a cap and overcoat, and leave 
breeding stock enough for next year's supply." 
The grizzly bear is a dangerous animal to encoun- 
ter single-handed. A bullet seems to have no 
more effect upon him, unless it strikes a vital spot, 
than it does upon an elephant. It is necessary to 
use guns of large calibre when hunting the animal, 
and the whites rarely seek them unless several 
tried men band together for the purpose. 



194 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

From time to time small native villages are seen 
on the islands and the mainland, all typical of the 
people, and quite picturesque in their dirtiness and 
peculiar construction. Some of their cabins are 
built of boards, but mostly they are rude, bark- 
covered logs. In front of these dwellings stand to- 
tem-poles, presenting hideous faces carved upon 
them in bold relief, together with uncouth figures 
of birds, beasts, and fishes. A portion of these 
tall posts are weather-beaten and neglected, signifi- 
cantly tottering on their foundations, green with 
mould, unconsciously foreshadowing the fate of 
the aboriginal race. Groups of natives in bright- 
colored blankets, with scarlet and yellow handker- 
chiefs on their heads, come into view, watching us 
curiously as we glide over the smooth water, while 
bevies of half-naked children are seen shifting 
hither and thither in clamorous excitement. What 
wonderfully bright, black eyes these children 
have ! Some of the women are gathering kelp, 
for the shores are lined with edible alga?, posses- 
sing not only fine nutritious qualities, but being 
also a recognized tonic, with excellent medicinal 
properties. This sea-product is collected in the 
most favorable season of the year, and after being 
pressed into convenient sized and esculent cakes 
is stored for future use. The native hamlets are 
always built near to the shore, accessibility to the 
water being the first consideration, because from 
that source comes nine tenths of their subsistence. 
To clear the forest and secure open fields presup- 
poses more thrift and application than these na- 



AWKWARD FASHIONS. 195 

tives possess ; but it would unveil some of the 
richest soil in the world. These Alaskans have 
no idea of sewerage, or the proper disposal of do- 
mestic refuse. All accumulations of this sort are 
thrown just outside the doors of their dwellings, 
to the right and left, anywhere in fact which is 
handiest. The stench which surrounds their cab- 
ins, under these circumstances, is almost unbeara- 
ble by civilized people, and must be very unwhole- 
some. These natives have broad faces, small, 
pig-like eyes, and high cheek bones, not very nice 
to look upon, yet not without a certain expression 
of real intelligence gleaming through the accumu- 
lated dirt. 

"What is needed here," said a humorous ob- 
server to us, " is the mission teacher with his 
Bible, spelling-book, and — soap ! " 

The women cut their hair short on the fore- 
head, nearly even with the eyebrows, causing one 
to surmise that these Thlinkits — a generic name 
given to the tribes in this vicinity — must have 
set the fashion of " banging " the hair, which is so 
popular among civilized belles. Just so the Japa- 
nese women originated the hideous fashion of the 
" bustle." The author saw this awkward and un- 
becoming appendage worn upon the backs of the 
women of Yokohama, Tokio, and Nagasaki three 
years before it appeared upon the streets of Bos- 
ton and New York. And now we hear of the 
" clinging " style of drapery, in which underskirts 
even are discarded, called the Grecian or classic 
style. Alas! will nothing but extremes satisfy the 



196 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

importunate demands of fashion ? Heaven send 
that we do not import another fashion from Alaska 
or the South Seas, namely tattooing. It is quite 
common here, among young girls of about twelve 
years of age, whose cheeks and chins are often 
thus disfigured by irregular lines. The more the 
natives associate with the whites, however, the 
more rarely this tattooing is resorted to, and it may 
be said, as a fashion, to be going out in Alaska, 
though it is undoubtedly one of the most widely 
diffused practices of savage life, from the Arctic 
to the Antarctic circle. 

The Alaskans have an original way of produ- 
cing this indelible marking, the color being fixed 
by drawing a thread under the skin, whereas the 
usual mode among various savages is by pricking 
it in with a needle. The favorite colors are red 
and blue. We were told that common women 
were permitted to adorn their chins with but one 
vertical line in the centre, and one parallel to it 
on either side, while a woman of the better or 
wealthier class is allowed two vertical lines from 
each corner of the mouth. The New Zealand 
Maori women tattoo their chins in a very similar 
manner, keeping the rest of the face in a natural 
condition. 

We had threaded the intricate labyrinth of 
islands, bays, and channels, guarded by miles upon 
miles of sentinel peaks, nearly all day, on one oc- 
casion, under a depressing fog and rain, when sud- 
denly a bold headland was rounded, which had 
seemed for hours to completely bar our way, and 



MOUNTAIN ECHOES. 197 

we passed out from under the shadow of the 
frowning cliffs and the gloom of the dark fathom- 
less waters just as the sun burst forth, warm, 
bright, and resistless, while the view expanded 
before us nearly to the horizon. The mist, like 
shrouded ghosts, stole silently away, vanishing 
behind the rocks and cliffs. Every dewy drop 
of moisture, on ship and shore, glittered like dia- 
monds in the dazzling rays of the new-born light, 
changing the verdant islands into a glory of 
color, and the whole view to one of majestic love- 
liness, through which we glided as smoothly as 
though in a gondola upon the Grand Canal at 
Venice. 

When approaching a landing or anchorage, a 
signal gun is fired from the forecastle of the ship, 
creating a series of echoes deep, sonorous, and 
startling, but especially remarkable for the num- 
ber of times the sound is repeated. One single 
gun becomes multiplied to a whole broadside. 
The report is taken up again and again by other 
localities, and thus is conveyed for miles away, 
finally sinking to a whisper, as it were, among the 
foot-hills of the giant elevations. 

The most impressive scenes realized by the trav- 
eler are those of moonlight and midnight. How a 
love of the stars and the sea grows upon one, and 
life has so few moments of perfect contentment ! 
What melody and magic permeate the pure, 
placid atmosphere, bounded by the sapphire sea 
and the azure sky ! How tender and beautiful is 
the utter stillness of the hour ! Such scenes of 



198 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

gladness make the heart almost afraid, — afraid 
lest there should be some keen sorrow lurking in 
ambush to awaken us from pleasant dreams to 
the stern, disenchanting experiences of real life. 



\ 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Alaskan's Habit of Gambling. — Extraordinary Domestic 
Carvings. — Silver Bracelets. — Prevailing Superstitions. — 
Disposal of the Dead. — The Native " Potlatch." — Canni- 
balism. — Ambitions of Preferment. — Human Sacrifices. — r 
The Tribes slowly decreasing in Numbers. — Influence of the 
Women. — Witchcraft. — Fetich Worship. — The Native Ca- 
noes. — Eskimo Skin Boats. 

The aborigines of Alaska are slow in their 
movements, and in this respect resemble the Lapps 
of Scandinavia, having also a drawling manner of 
speech entirely in consonance with their bodily 
movements. They are as inveterate gamblers as 
the Chinese, often passing whole days and nights 
absorbed in the occupation, the result of which is 
in no way contingent upon intelligence or skill, 
until finally one of the party walks off winner of 
all the stakes. Their principal gambling game is 
played with a handful of small sticks of different 
colors, which are called by various names, such 
as the crab, the whale, the duck, and so on. The 
player shuffles all the sticks together, then count- 
ing out a certain number he places them under 
cover of bunches of moss. The object seems to 
be to guess in which pile is the whale, and in 
which the crab, or the duck. Individuals often 
lose at this seemingly trifling game all their 
worldly possessions. We were told of instances 



200 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

where, spurred on by excitement, a native risks 
his wife and children, and if he loses, they be- 
come the recognized property of the winner, nor 
would any one think of interfering with such a 
settlement. These extreme cases, of course, are 
rare. 

It is impossible to see the aborigines eagerly 
absorbed in the game without recalling Dr. John- 
son's characteristic definition of gambling, namely, 
" A mode of transferring property without pro- 
ducing any intermediate good." 

Inside of the rude native houses one finds many 
hideous carvings, representing impossible animals 
and strange objects of all sorts, after the style of 
the totem-poles, of which we shall have occasion 
to speak. Many of their small domestic uten- 
sils are made from the horns of the mountain 
goats, and are also curiously carved with night- 
mare objects, as evil to look upon as African 
idols. Yet some of these articles show consider- 
able skill and infinite patience in execution. We 
have seen specimens that it was difficult to be- 
lieve were executed by the hand of an uncultured 
savage. Before the Russians introduced iron and 
steel-knives, the aborigines seem to have carved 
only with copper and stone implements, produ- 
cing remarkable results under the circumstances. 
The young women wear silver bracelets, pounded 
out of American dollar pieces, some of which 
are an inch broad, and are covered elaborately 
after civilized models, others bear native heraldic 
devices of birds, beasts, and fishes, which are said 



SUPERSTITIONS. 201 

to represent the arms of the wearer's family, it 
being customary for each tribe and person to 
adopt some distinctive seal or crest. They much 
prefer silver ornaments to those of gold or other 
material ; though they are not slow to realize in- 
trinsic values, probably they choose the less expen- 
sive metal because it is Alaska fashion. 

In spite of all the missionary effort which is 
made to enlighten these natives, they are still 
slaves to the most debasing superstitions. Scarce- 
ly a month passes in which the civil authorities are 
not called upon to interfere with the people for 
cruelty. We were told of one instance which lately 
occurred at Juneau. A native was seriously ill, 
and the medicine-man, having failed to relieve him 
by his noisy incantations, charged an old member 
of the tribe with having bewitched the invalid. 
He was consequently seized, tied up, and whipped 
until nearly insensible, being left for three days 
without food. By chance the authorities heard of 
the case and released the old man. The two prin- 
cipal natives who had been guilty of the maltreat- 
ment were tried and fined twenty dollars each. 
The very next day the old man was missing, and 
it was found that he had again been tied up and 
whipped. The two culprits admitted repeating 
their cruelty, saying they had paid for the right 
to whip out the witch from the old man, and it 
must be done before the invalid would recover. 
These ignorant creatures entertained no malice to- 
wards the old native ; it was only a matter of duty, 
as they thought, to exorcise the evil one which 



202 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

had possessed the invalid. This is a fair sample 
of the superstition of the average Alaskans. 

When a member of the family dies, the body is 
not removed for final disposal by the door which 
the living are accustomed to use, but a plank is 
torn from the side or back of the dwelling, through 
which the corpse is passed, after which the place 
is at once carefully made whole. This, they say, 
is to prevent the spirit of the defunct from find- 
ing its way back again, and thus bringing ill luck 
upon the living. A still more superstitious and 
savage custom prevails among some of these igno- 
rant natives. 

If a person dies in a cabin, it is held that the 
place becomes sacred to his spirit, and there- 
fore is unfit for the living. To avoid this diffi- 
culty the dying are passed out of the domicile 
through some temporary hole into the open air to 
breathe their last, so that neither the house nor 
the threshold may be sacrificed to the spirit of 
the dead. Slaves, besides poor widows and or- 
phans, when they die, are often disposed of in 
the most summary and unfeeling manner, being 
exposed in the woods, or cast into the sea as 
food for the fishes. In this connection we re- 
member that the highly civilized and rich Par- 
sees of Bombay do not hesitate to give the dead 
bodies of their cherished ones to the vultures, in 
those terrible Towers of Silence on Malabar Hill. 

The ceremonies which follow all funerals among 
these aborigines are peculiar affairs, and for the 
carrying out of which each person saves more or 



FUNERAL CUSTOMS. 203 

less of his worldly effects to leave after death. As 
soon as the body of the deceased is disposed of, 
then commences what is here called a " potlatch," 
signifying a " big feast," conducted very much 
after the style of the New Zealanders on a similar 
occasion. Everybody is invited and a free spread 
or feast provided, the same being kept up for sev- 
eral days and nights, so long, indeed, as the pur- 
chasing power lasts. Whiskey is freely dispensed, 
when it can be had, but if not obtainable, as it 
is a contraband article, then "hoochenoo," made 
from flour and molasses well fermented, takes its 
place, being equally intoxicating and maddening. 
Dancing, wailing, singing, fighting, and grave in- 
decencies follow each other, until the means to 
keep up the potlatch left by the deceased are ex- 
hausted, and his surviving family oftentimes im- 
poverished. 

Cremation is the Thlinkit's favorite mode of 
disposing of his dead. The bodies of slaves and 
" witches " are disposed of with great secrecy. 
They are not considered worth burial, and are 
sometimes cast into the sea, but water burial is 
infrequent. The bodies of chiefs lie in state sev- 
eral days ; the people observe certain rites ; then 
the body is cremated and the ashes are encased in 
the base of a totem erected to his memory. Sha- 
mans (doctors) are never cremated. After lying 
in state four days, one day in each corner of the 
cabin, the body is taken out of the house through 
the smokestack, or some opening other than the 
door, and conveyed some distance to a deadhouse 



204 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

built for this particular occupant. There in its 
last resting-place the body is seated in an upright 
position. The paraphernalia of his rank and office, 
some blankets and household effects to add to his 
comfort in the spirit-land, are entombed with the 
remains. 

Another occasion for indulging in the potlatch 
is when some one is desirous of securing extraor- 
dinary influence in his tribe, generally a chief 
seeking to establish superior position or popular- 
ity over some rival. Natives have been known to 
save their means for years, augmenting them by 
industry and self-denial, in order finally to give 
a grand and unequaled feast of this character. 
When the time arrives not only are all the host's 
own tribe invited, but those of the next nearest 
tribes not akin to his own. Such a festival often 
lasts for a whole week, until the last blanket of 
the giver is sacrificed. These strange festivals, 
we were told, are fast passing into disuse, at least 
among those tribes brought most in contact with 
the whites, though on a smaller scale they do still 
exist all over the southern region of Alaska. 

There is, perhaps, no positive evidence that can- 
nibalism ever prevailed among the Indians of this 
region, yet it is gravely hinted that it did on the 
occasion of these funeral potlatches years ago. To 
sacrifice the life of one or more of the slaves of 
the deceased we know was common, and if their 
bodies were not barbecued and eaten, then these 
natives of the North Pacific were entirely differ- 
ent in this respect from those who lived in the 



DECAY OF THE RACES. 205 

South Pacific. The medicine-men, even to-day, 
devour portions of corpses, believing that they ac- 
quire control of the spirit of the deceased thereby, 
and gain influence over demon spirits in the other 
sphere. Such practices are, however, rare, though 
Mr. Duncan of Metla-katla tells us he has wit- 
nessed the repulsive performance. The places near 
each hamlet where the dead are finally placed 
often number many more graves, or square boxes 
containing the bodies, than there are present in- 
habitants in the settlement. All this region was 
formerly many times more populous than it is to- 
day. Here, as in Africa, New Zealand, Califor- 
nia, and Australia, where the white man appears 
permanently, the black man slowly but surely 
vanishes. The progress of civilization, as we call 
it, is fatal to native, savage races all over the 
world. Catlin, who lived among and wrote so 
well about our Western Indians, summed up the 
matter thus : " White man — whiskey — toma- 
hawks — scalping-knives — guns, powder and ball 
— smallpox, debauchery — extermination." But 
it is not alone gunpowder, rum, and lasciviousness 
which are the active agents to this end ; there is 
also a subtle influence which is not clearly under- 
stood, and which it is difficult to define, but which 
is as potent, if not more so, than the agencies 
above suggested. The destiny which heaven de- 
crees for a people will surely come to them. This 
has been clearly exemplified in the instance of the 
North American Indians, as well as among the 
South Sea Islanders in Australia and the Ha- 



206 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

waiian Islands. Of an entire and intelligent peo- 
ple, the aborigines who once occupied Tasmania, 
there is not to-day a living representative ! The 
land is solely possessed and occupied by white 
Europeans, before whom the natives have steadily 
vanished like dew before the sun. 

Mr. Frederick Whymper, who wrote about the 
Northwest some twenty years ago, speaking upon 
this subject, refers to the experience of a Mr. 
Sproat, a resident of the region near Puget Sound, 
who employed large numbers of natives as well 
as whites in manufacturing lumber. Mr. Sproat 
conducted his large business and the place where 
it was established on temperance principles; no 
violence or oppression of any sort was permitted 
towards the natives. They were in fact better 
fed, better clothed, and better taught than they 
had ever been before. It was only after a con- 
siderable time that any symptom of a change 
was observed among the Indians. By and by a 
listlessness seemed to creep over them, and they 
"brooded over silent thoughts." At first they 
were surprised and bewildered by the presence 
of the white men, and the machinery and steam 
vessels which they brought with them. They 
seemed slowly to acquire a distrust of themselves, 
and abandoned their old practices and tribal hab- 
its, until at last it was discovered that a higher 
death - rate was prevailing among them. " No 
one molested them," says Mr. Sproat ; " they had 
ample sustenance and shelter for the support of 
life, yet the people decayed. The steady bright- 



INFLUENCE OF THE WOMEN. 207 

ness of civilized life seemed to dim and extin- 
guish the flickering light of savageism, as the 
rays of the sun put out a common fire." 

Upon the same subject and people, H. W. El- 
liott says : " These savages were created for the 
wild surroundings of their existence ; expressly 
fitted for it, and they live happily in it ; change 
the order of their life, and at once they disappear, 
as do the indigenous herbs and game before the 
cultivation of the soil and the domestication of 
animals." We shall not comment upon these 
remarks, though to us it is an extremely inter- 
esting subject ; the reader must draw his own 
inference. 

The men of these native tribes are strong and 
vigorous; the women are, however, forced to per- 
form most of the domestic labor, and all of the 
drudgery, yet it was observed that they held the 
purse strings. That is to say, a native buck al- 
ways defers to his wife in any matter of trade as 
to the price either to ask or to pay. The women 
of Alaska are certainly in a better condition and 
are better treated than those belonging to any of 
our Western Indian tribes, with whom we are ac- 
quainted. Though they are called upon to do 
much menial work, they do not seem to be actu- 
ally abused. The male Alaskan performs a cer- 
tain liberal share of domestic duties, but not so 
with the Indian of our Western reservations. The 
latter makes his wife a beast of burden. They 
are generally clothed in the garments of civiliza- 
tion, though of coarse material and of the cheapest 



208 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

manufacture. The ready-made clothing store has 
reached even the islands of the North Pacific. 
Polygamy is common among the aborigines, chas- 
tity is little heeded, and young girls are sold hj 
their mothers for a few blankets, she and not the 
father having the acknowledged right of dispos- 
ing of them. Dr. Sheldon Jackson writes most 
feelingly as follows : " Despised by their fathers, 
sold by their mothers, imposed upon by their 
brothers, and ill-treated by their husbands, cast 
out in their widowhood, living lives of toil and low 
sensual pleasure, untaught and uncared for, with 
no true enjoyment in this world and no hope for 
the world to come, crushed by a cruel heathenism, 
it is no wonder that many of them end their 
misery and wretchedness by suicide." 

It was found on inquiry that the ratio of births 
among the Alaskan shore tribes was considerably 
greater than among civilized communities, but the 
death-rate is, on the other hand, excessive. The 
wretched ignorance of the mothers as to the ob- 
servance of the simplest sanitary laws, as well as 
the gross exposure of their infants, is the principal 
cause of this needless mortality. 

The aborigines, where not brought in contact 
with the government schools and missionaries, 
still retain their system of fetich worship, be- 
ing very much under control of their medicine- 
men, who pretend to influence the demons of the 
spirit world, so feared by the average savage. 
Their moral degradation is extreme, and their 
practices in too many instances are terrible to 



NATIVE CANOES. 209 

relate. Slaves are sacrificed, as already stated, at 
the owner's death, that they may go before and 
prepare for his arrival in the future state. Vile 
witchcraft is still believed in among most of the 
tribes, and murderous consequences follow in many 
cases. All kinds of barbarity are inflicted upon 
women, children, and slaves. We are told by Dr. 
Sheldon Jackson that it was surprising to see how 
quickly these savage practices yielded to the power 
of Christian teachings, and how rapidly they faded 
away before the influence of association with a few 
intelligent, conscientious white teachers. What 
these people need is education and Christian influ- 
ence, which will work a great and rapid reform 
among them in a single generation. 

The canoes of the tribes about the Alexander 
Archipelago are dug out of well-chosen cedar logs, 
and are given the really fine lines for which they 
are remarkable by means of hot water and steam, 
together with the use of cunningly devised braces 
and clamps. The wood being once thoroughly 
dried in the desired shape, will retain it. Wonder- 
ing how the exquisite smoothness was produced in 
forming their boats without a carpenter's plane, it 
was found by inquiry that the natives dry the 
coarse skin of the dogfish and use it as we do 
sandpaper. The time spent upon the construction 
and ornamentation of these canoes is apparently 
of no consideration to the native, and the market 
value of the best will average one hundred dollars. 
It is the Alaskan's most necessary and most prized 
piece of property. Some which we saw were 



210 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

eighty feet in length, and capable of holding one 
hundred men. It must be remembered that al- 
most the entire population live on the coast or 
river banks in a country where there are no 
roads. These canoes have no seats in them ; the 
rower places himself on the bottom, and thus situ- 
ated uses his paddles with great dexterity. They 
are quite unmanageable by a white man who is 
not accustomed to them, as much so at least as a 
birch canoe, such as the Eastern Indians build on 
the coast of Maine. But the Alaskan boat is far 
superior to the birch-bark canoe in every respect. 
We saw one paddled by a boy at Pyramid Harbor, 
neat and new, which the lad, say twelve years of 
age, had dug out of a spruce log with his own 
hands, quite unaided. Its lines were admirable, 
and the finish was excellent. When the sun beats 
down upon these boats, the owner splashes water 
upon the sides about him to prevent their warp- 
ing, and for this purpose carries a thin wooden 
scoop. When not in use they are carefully cov- 
ered up to shelter them from the sun's rays. Some 
tribes use a double paddle, that is, an oar with a 
blade at each end, which they dip on one side and 
the other alternately ; other tribes use the single- 
bladed paddle. Each one of the males among the 
natives has his canoe, for the water is his only 
highway, and without his boat he would be as 
helpless as one of our Western Indians on the plains 
without his pony. When the " dug-outs " are 
drawn up upon the shore in scores, they present 
a curious appearance, packed with grass and cov- 



ESKIMO SKIN BOATS, 211 

ered with matting to keep them from being 
cracked and warped by the sun. The bows and 
stern of many of them are elaborately carved to- 
tem-fashion, and also painted in strange designs 
with a black pigment. The fore part of the boat 
rises with an upward sheer, and is higher at the 
prow than at the stern. There is another form of 
boat used by the Eskimos and natives of the out- 
lying islands, being a simple frame of wood, cov- 
ered with sea-lion skin from which the hair has 
been removed. These boats are covered over the 
tops as well as the bottoms, being almost level 
with the sea, leaving only a hole for the occupant 
to sit in, thus making them absolutely water- 
tight, a life-boat, in fact, which will float in any 
water so long as they will hold together. The 
waves may dash over them but cannot enter them. 
These- skin-covered boats, admirably adapted to 
their legitimate purpose, are known on the coast 
as " bidarkas," in the management of which the 
natives evince great skill, making long journeys in 
them, and braving all sorts of weather. Like the 
Madras surf-boats, no nails are used in their con- 
struction, either in the skeleton frame or in put- 
ting on the covering, the several parts being 
lashed and sewed together in the most artistic fash- 
ion with sinews and leather thongs, which enables 
them to bear a greater strain than if they were 
held together by any other means. The thongs 
admit of a certain degree of flexibility when it is 
required, an effect which cannot be got with nail 
fastenings. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Still sailing Northward. — Multitudes of Water-Fowls. — Native 
Graveyards. — Curious Totem-Poles. — Tribal and Family 
Emblems — Division of the Tribes. — Whence the Race 
came. — A Clew to their Origin. — The Northern Eskimos. — 
A Remarkable Museum of Aleutian Antiquities. — Jade Moun- 
tain. — The Art of Carving. — Long Days. — Aborigines of 
the Yukon Valley. — Their Customs. 

Still sailing northward, large numbers of ebon- 
hued cormorants are seen feeding on the low, 
kelp-covered rocks, contrasting with the snowy 
whiteness of the gulls. Big flocks of snipe, ducks, 
and other aquatic birds line the water's edge, or 
rise in clouds from some sheltered nook to settle 
again in our wake. Higher up in air a huge bald- 
headed eagle is in sight nearly all the while, as 
we sail along the winding watercourse. The 
eagles of Alaska, unlike those of other sections of 
the globe, are not a solitary bird, but congregate 
in considerable numbers, and residents told us 
they had seen a score of them roosting together 
on the branches of the same tree, but we must 
confess to never having seen even two together. 
Elsewhere the eagle is certainly a bird whose 
solitary habits are one of its marked character- 
istics. We observe here and there near native 
villages, more square boxes and totem-poles indi- 
cating the resting-places of the dead. Some tribes 



AN ALASKAN GRAVEYARD. 213 

continue to burn their dead, and these boxes con- 
tain only the ashes, but the missionaries and the 
whites generally have so opposed the idea of 
cremation that many of the natives have aban- 
doned it. The burial above-ground in the square 
boxes referred to is a peculiar idea. These coffins, 
if they may be so called, are about three feet and 
a half long by two and a half wide, and are often 
elaborately carved and painted with grotesque 
figures. The corpse is disjointed and doubled up 
in order to get it into this compass, though why 
this is done when a longer box would so much 
simplify matters, no one seems to know. We 
were told that some of the Alaskan tribes used 
to place their dead in trees, or on the top of four 
raised poles, a similar practice to that which once 
prevailed among certain tribes of our Western 
Indians, but the mode just described is that which 
most generally prevails. There seems to be some 
difference of opinion as regards the real signifi- 
cance of the totem-poles. They appear to be de- 
signed in part to commemorate certain deeds in 
the lives of the departed, near whose grave they 
are reared, as well as to indicate the family arms 
of those for whom they are erected. Thus, on 
seeing one special totem-post surmounted by a 
wolf carved in wood, beneath which a useless gun 
was lashed, inquiry was made as to its signifi- 
cance, whereupon we were told that the deceased 
by whose grave it stood had been killed while 
hunting wolves in the forest. This was certainly 
a very literal way of recording the fate of the 
hunter. 



214 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Some tribes adopt the crow, some the hawk, 
and some the bear or the whale, as their distinc- 
tive tribal emblem. The poles are carved from 
bottom to top, averaging thirty or forty feet in 
height, — though some are nearly a hundred feet 
high, — and from three to four feet in diameter, 
the height also signifying the importance of the 
individual, that is, his social grade or standing in 
the tribe. Some of the carvings are mythological, 
for these people have an oral mythology of the 
most fabulous character, which has been handed 
down from father to son for many centuries. 
The carvings on the coffin-boxes, though often 
elaborate, to a white man's eye are meaningless. 
As we have said, when a chief dies, some valu- 
able personal effects are always deposited with 
his body in the coffin, and one would suppose that 
such objects were safe from pilfering fingers of even 
strangers ; yet these articles are constantly offered 
for sale, and are eagerly purchased by curio-hunt- 
ers who come hither from various parts of this 
country. 

The aborigines of Alaska are divided into vari- 
ous sub-tribes, such as Hooniahs, Tongas, Auks, 
Kasa-ans, Haidas, Sitkas, Chinooks, Chilcats, and 
so on. 

Ivan Petroff, who was sent by the United States 
Government to Alaska in 1880, as special agent 
of the census, divides the native population of the 
Territory as follows : — 

Fiest. — The Innuit or Eskimo race, which 
predominates in numbers and covers the littoral 



ORIGIN OF THE NATIVE RACES. 215 

margin of all Alaska from the British boundary 
on the Arctic to Norton Sound, the Lower Yukon, 
and Kuskoquin, Bristol Bay, the Alaska Penin- 
sula, Kodiak Island, mixing in, also, at Prince 
William Sound. 

Second. — The Indians proper spread over 
the vast interior in the north, reaching down to 
the seaboard at Cook's Inlet and the mouth of the 
Copper River, and lining the coast from Mount 
St. Elias southward to the boundary and peo- 
pling the Alexander Archipelago. 

Third. — The Aleutian race, extending from 
the Shumagin Islands westward to Attoo, — the 
Ultima Thule of this country, — whom PetrofT 
terms the Christian inhabitants. These last cer- 
tainly conform most fully to all the outward -prac- 
tices of civilization and universally recognize the 
Greek Church. 

Whence these people originally came is a ques- 
tion which is constantly discussed, but which is 
still an unsolved problem. Some words in their 
language seem to indicate a Japanese origin, and 
some seem clearly to be derived from the Aztec 
tongue belonging to that peculiar people of the 
south. Hon. James G. Swain of Port Town- 
send, who has given years of study to the subject 
of ethnology as connected with the tribes of the 
Northwest, states that he found among them a 
tradition of the Great Spirit similar to that of the 
Aztecs, and that when he exhibited to members 
of the Haida tribe sketches of Aztec carvings, 
they at once recognized and understood them. 



216 TEE NEW ELDORADO. 

Copper images and relics found in their possession 
were identical with exhumed relics brought from 
Guatemala. These are certainly very significant 
facts, if not convincing ones. The Alaska natives 
have some Apache words in their language, which 
points to a common origin with our North Amer- 
ican Indian tribes, but these suggestions are purely 
speculative. There are able students of ethnol- 
ogy who insist upon the origin of these Alaskans 
being Asiatic for various good and sufficient rea- 
sons, instancing not only their personal appear- 
ance, but the similarity of their traditions and cus- 
toms to those of the people of Asia. To have 
come thence it is remembered that they had only 
to cross a narrow piece of water forty miles wide. 
This passage is frequently made in our times by 
open boats. At certain seasons of the year, though 
in so northern a latitude, the strait is by no means 
rough. Mr. Seward says: "I have mingled 
freely with the multifarious population, the Ton- 
gas, the Stickeens, the Kakes, the Haidas, the Sit- 
kas, the Kootnoos, and the Chilcats. Climate and 
other circumstances have indeed produced some 
differences of manners and customs between the 
Aleuts, the Koloschians, and the interior conti- 
nental tribes, but all of them are manifestly of 
Mongol origin. Although they have preserved no 
common traditions, all alike indulge in tastes, 
wear a physiognomy, and are imbued with senti- 
ments peculiarly noticed in China and Japan." 

The Eskimos proper differ but little from the 
southern and inland tribes of Alaska general!}' ; 



JADE MOUNTAIN. 217 

few of them are ever seen south of Norton Sound 
or the mouths of the Yukon. Their home is in the 
Arctic portion of the Territory, bordering the 
Frozen Ocean and Behring Strait. It is obvious 
that climatic influences create among them differ- 
ent manners and customs, causing also a slightly 
different physical formation, but otherwise they 
seem to be of the same race as the people of the 
Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands, or indeed 
of any of the several groups and of the mainland 
lying to the south. That these Eskimos resemble 
physically the Norwegian Lapps, to be met with 
at about the same latitude in the eastern hemi- 
sphere, is very obvious to one who has carefully 
observed both races in their homes. This similar- 
ity extends in rather a remarkable degree also to 
their dress as well as domestic habits. 

In the region they occupy, near the source of 
the Kowak River, which empties into Kotzebue 
Sound by several mouths after a course of two 
or three hundred miles, is Jade Mountain, com- 
posed, as far as is known, of a light green stone 
which gives it the name it bears. An exploring 
party from the United States steamer Cor win 
brought away one or two hundred pounds of the 
mineral in the summer of 1884. The hardness 
and tenacity of these specimens are said to have 
been remarkable, as well as the exquisite polish 
which they exhibited when treated by the lapi- 
dist. Jade Mountain must be in latitude 68° 
north, between two and three hundred miles south 
of the Yukon above the line of Behring Strait. 



218 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Yet the exploring party found the thermometer to 
register 90° Fah. in the shade, while their great- 
est annoyance was caused by the mosquitoes. The 
Kowak abounds in salmon, pike, and white-fish. 
" The 'color' of gold," says the printed report of 
the expedition, " was obtained almost everywhere." 
Nearly eighty species of birds were collected, 
though the party were absent from the Corwin but 
about seven weeks. The white spruce was found 
to be the largest and most abundant tree, and the 
inhabitants all Eskimos. 

The remarkable museum of ancient arms, 
dresses, wooden and skin armor, and domestic 
utensils exhibited in New York city in 1868 by 
Mr. Edward G. Fast, and which was collected by 
him while in the employment of our government 
among the people of the Northwest, revealed some 
very important facts as to their history. The col- 
lection proved clearly that two or three hundred 
years ago these natives of Alaska enjoyed a much 
higher degree of civilization than is exhibited by 
their descendants to-day. That they have deteri- 
orated in industry, steadiness, and ability generally 
is obvious. The art of forging must have been 
known to them in the earlier times, as shown in 
this collection of admirable weapons, clearly of 
native manufacture and of most excellent finish. 
The art of carving was possessed by them in far 
greater perfection than they exhibit in our day, 
while the skillfully made dresses of tanned leather 
worn by the ancient Aleuts nearly equal those in 
which the warriors were clad who accompanied 



THE ESKIMOS. 219 

Cortez and Pizarro when they landed on this con- 
tinent. Mr. Fast was singularly fortunate in se- 
curing whole suits of armor, masks, and war im- 
plements for his unique museum of Alaskan 
antiquities. In association with Russians aud 
Americans for a century, more or less, these abo- 
rigines have readily adopted the vices of civiliza- 
tion, so to speak, and have sacrificed most of their 
own better qualities. Indolence generally has 
taken the place of the warlike habits and stead- 
iness of purpose which must have characterized 
them as a people to a large degree before the 
whites came with firearms and fire-water. How 
forcibly is the law of mutability impressed upon 
us ! From a state of comparative power and im- 
portance, this people has dwindled to a condition 
simply foreshadowing oblivion. 

Rev. W. W. Kirby, a missionary who reached 
the valley of the Yukon by way of British Colum- 
bia, fully describes the Eskimos whom he mingled 
with in the northwestern part of the Territory. 
He considers them to be more intelligent than 
the average Alaska Indians, and far superior to 
them in physical appearance, the women especially 
being much fairer and more pleasing to look upon. 
They are more addicted to the use of tobacco 
than are these southern tribes, often smoking to 
great excess, and in the most peculiar manner, 
swallowing every swiff from their pipes, until they 
become so poisoned as to fall senseless upon the 
ground, where they remain in this condition for ten 
or fifteen minutes. They dress very neatly with 



220 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

deerskins, wearing the hair on the outside. The 
men have heavy beards, shave the crown of their 
heads, leaving the sides and back growth to fall 
freely about the face and neck. Mr. Kirby is 
obliged to censure the thievish propensities of this 
people, which was a source of great trouble and 
considerable loss to him. Speaking of his high 
northern latitude when among the Eskimos, he 
says: "As we advanced farther northward, the 
sun did not leave us at all. Frequently did I see 
him describe a complete circle in the heavens." 

As far south as Pyramid Harbor, latitude 59° 
11' north, the sun does not set in midsummer 
until about two o'clock in the morning, rising 
again four hours later. Even during these four 
sunless hours fine print can be read on the ship's 
deck without the aid of any other than the natural 
light. 

Mr Kirby found the Indians of the Yukon 
valley to be rather a fierce and turbulent people, 
more like our Western Indians than any other 
tribes whom he met. Their country is in and 
about latitude 65° north, and beginning at the 
Mackenzie River, in British Columbia, runs 
through Alaska to Behring Strait. They were 
formerly very numerous, but have frequently been 
at war with the Eskimos north of them, and have 
thus been sadly reduced in numbers, though they 
are still a strong and powerful people. 

There is a singular system of social division 
recognized among them, termed respectively 
Chit-sa, Nate-sa, and Tanges-at-sa, faintly repre- 



YUKON MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 221 

senting the idea of aristocracy, the middle class, 
and the poorer order of our civilization. There 
is another peculiarity in this connection, it being 
the rule for a man not to marry in his own, but 
to take a wife from either of the other classes. 
Thus a Chit-sa gentleman will marry a Tanges- 
at-sa peasant without hesitation ; the offspring in 
every case belonging to the class to which the 
mother is related. This arrangement has had a 
most beneficial effect in allaying the deadly feuds 
formerly so frequent among neighboring tribes, 
and which have been the cause of so reducing 
their memorial strength by sanguinary conflicts. , 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Fort Wrangel. — Plenty of Wild Game. — Natives do not care 
for Soldiers, but have a Wholesome Fear of Gunboats. — Mode 
of Trading. — Girls' School and Home. — A Deadly Tragedy. 

— Native Jewelry and Carving. — No Totem-Poles for Sale. 

— Missionary Enterprises. — Progress in Educating Natives. 

— Various Denominations Engaged in the Missionary Work. 

We prefer to think it was to see the sun rise 
that we got up so early on arriving at Fort Wran- 
gel, and not because of the torturing fact that our 
berth was too short at both ends, and kept us in 
a chronic state of wakefulness and cramp. The 
distance passed over in coming hither from Vic- 
toria was about eight hundred miles. The place, 
having about five hundred inhabitants, is advan- 
tageously situated on an island at the mouth of 
the Stickeen River, which rises in British Colum- 
bia and has a length of nearly two hundred and 
fifty miles. There is here an excellent and ca- 
pacious harbor, surrounded by grand mountains, 
while lofty snow -crowned summits more inland 
break the sky-line in nearly all directions, — moun- 
tain towering above mountain, until the view is 
lost among far-away peaks, blue and indistinct. 
This elevated district contains wild goats, with 
now and then a grizzly bear, fiercest of his tribe, 
while in its ravines and valleys the little mule- 
deer, the brown bear, the fox, the land-otter, the 



FORT WRANGEL. 223 

mink, and various other animals abound. As to 
the small streams and river courses which thread 
the territory, they are, as all over this country, 
crowded with fish, the salmon prevailing. The 
inland haunts within twenty leagues of the coast 
are little disturbed by the natives. The abun- 
dance of halibut, cod, and salmon at their very 
doors, as it were, is quite sufficient to satisfy the 
demands of nature, and it is only when tempted 
by the white man's gold that the aborigines will 
leave the coast to go inland in search of pelts and 
meat, in the form of venison, goat, or bear flesh. 

The town, consisting of a hundred houses and 
more, is spread along the shore at the base of a 
thickly wooded hill, flanked on either side by a 
long line of low, square, rough-hewn native cabins. 
A peep into the interior of these was by no means 
reassuring. Dirt, degradation, and abundance 
were combined. The few domestic utensils seen 
appeared never to have been washed, being thick 
with grease, while the stench that saluted the ol- 
factories was sickening. There were no chairs, 
stools, or benches, the men and women sitting 
upon their haunches, a position which would be 
a severe trial to a white and afford no rest what- 
ever, but which is the universal mode of sitting 
adopted by savage races in all parts of the world. 
The place was named after Baron Wrangel, gov- 
ernor of Russian America at the time when it 
was first settled, in 1834, being then merely a 
stockade post. After the United States came into 
possession of the country it was for a short time 



224 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

occupied by our soldiers, but ere long ceased to be 
held as a military post, the soldiers being with- 
drawn altogether from the Territory. It was soon 
discovered that the natives cared nothing for the 
soldiers; they could always get away from them in 
any exigency by means of their canoes; but they 
had, and still have, a wholesome fear of a revenue 
cutter or a gunboat, which can destroy one of 
their villages, if necessary, in a few minutes. 

A steamer can always move very rapidly from 
place to place among the islands, making her pres- 
ence felt without delay, when and where it is most 
needed. At the outset of our taking possession 
of Alaska, an example of decision and power was 
necessary to put the natives in proper awe of the 
government, and it followed quickly upon an un- 
provoked outrage committed by the aborigines. 
One of their villages, not far from Sitka, was 
promptly shelled and destroyed in half an hour. 
Since then there has been no trouble of conse- 
quence with any of the tribes, who have profound 
respect for the strong arm, and to speak plainly, 
like most savage races, for nothing else. 

Fort Wrangel has two or three large stores for 
the sale of goods to the natives, and for the pur- 
chase of furs, Indian curiosities, and the like. It 
is also the headquarters of the gold miners, who 
gather here when the season is no longer fit for 
out-of-door work at the placers. 

Seeing the natives crowding the stores, it was 
natural to suppose the traders were driving a good 
business, but a proprietor explained that these 



GIRLS' SCHOOL AND HOME. 225 

people were slow buyers, making him many calls 
before purchasing. They look an article over three 
or four different times before concluding they want 
it; then its cost is to be considered. The native's 
squaw comes and approves or disapproves ; the 
article is discussed with the men's neighbors, and, 
finally, his resolution having culminated, he goes 
away to earn the money with which to make the 
purchase! "Such customers are very trying to 
our patience," remarked the trader, "but after 
you once understand their peculiarities it is easy 
enough to get along with them." 

A truly charitable enterprise has been estab- 
lished here ; we refer to the Indian Girls' School 
and Home, supported by the American Board of 
Missions, where the pupils are taught industrial 
duties appertaining to the domestic associations 
of their sex, as well as the ordinary branches of a 
common school education. No effort, we were 
told, is made to enforce any special tenets of faith, 
but these girls are taught morality, which is prac- 
tical religion. The example is much needed here, 
both among these native people and the whites. 

To show what strict adherents these Alaskans 
are to tribal conventionalities, we can do no better 
than relate a singular occurrence, for the truth of 
which Dr. Jackson is our authority. 

" Near the Hoonah Mission, a short time ago, 
a deadly tragedy took place. A stalwart native 
came into the village and imbibed too freely of 
hoochinoo. Walking along the street he saw a 
young married girl with whom he was greatly in- 



226 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

fatuated. The girl was afraid to meet him and 
turning ran to her house. The man gave pursuit 
and gained entrance to the house. All the in- 
mates escaped in terror. The desperado boldly 
continued his hunt for the woman, and the hus- 
band of the woman with a few friends took refuge 
in his own house again. The ravishing fiend re- 
turned, and demanding admittance battered in 
the door with an axe, and as he entered was shot 
and instantly killed. The friends of the dead 
man met in council, and according to their cus- 
tom demanded a life for his life. The husband 
and protector of his wife's virtue gave himself into 
the custody of his enemies and was unceremoni- 
ously killed ! " 

The production of native jewelry is a specialty 
here, and some of the silver ornaments of Indian 
manufacture are really very fine, exhibiting great 
skill and originality, if not refined taste. Their 
carvings in ivory are exceedingly curious, skill- 
ful, and attractive, especially upon walrus teeth, 
whereon they will imitate precisely any pattern 
that is given to them, with a patient fidelity 
equaling the Chinese. The native designs are 
far the most desirable, however, being not only 
typical of the people and localit}% but original 
and fitting. The time devoted to a piece of work 
seems to be of no consideration to a native, and 
forms no criterion as regards the price demanded 
for it. From the sale of these fancy articles the 
aborigines receive annually a considerable sum of 
money. It is indeed surprising how they can get 



NATIVE CARVINGS. 227 

such results without better tools. With some ar- 
tistic instruction they would be capable of produ- 
cing designs and combinations of a choice char- 
acter, and which would command a market among 
the most^ fastidious purchasers. Their present 
somewhat rude ornaments have attracted so much 
attention that two or three stores in San Fran- 
cisco keep a variety of them for sale. But it is 
the charm of having purchased such souvenirs on 
the spot which forms half their value. 

Speaking of these souvenirs, the author was 
shown some stone carvings at Victoria, on the pas- 
sage from Puget Sound northward, which were 
of native manufacture, and thought to be idols. 
It was afterwards learned that these were the 
works of the Haidas of Queen Charlotte Island, 
about seventy or eighty miles north of Vancouver 
Island. There is here a slate-stone, quite soft 
when first quarried, which is easily carved into 
any design or fanciful figure, but which rapidly 
hardens on exposure to the air. The stone is 
oiled when the carving is completed, and this 
gives it the appearance of age, as well as makes 
it dark and smooth. The natives of this north- 
west coast do not worship idols, therefore these 
are not objects of that character, though they are 
curious and interesting. It is among these Haidas 
that the practice of tattooing most prevails, and 
they still cover their bodies with designs of birds, 
fishes, and animals, some of which are most hide- 
ous caricatures. This tribe is said to be the most 
addicted to gambling of any on the coast, the 



228 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

demoralizing effect of which is to be seen in vari- 
ous forms among them. 

Fort Wranore] has several demon-like totem- 

o 

poles. There is a sort of fascination attached to 
these awkward objects which leads one carefully 
to examine and constantly to talk about them. 
Before some cabins there are two of the weird 
things, covered with devices representing both 
the male and female branches of the family 
which occupies the cabin. It was found that 
much more importance was attached to these em- 
blems here than had been manifested farther 
south. An interested excursionist who came up 
on our steamer, wishing to possess himself of a 
totem-pole, found one at last of suitable size for 
transportation, and tried to purchase it, but dis- 
covered that no possible sum which he could offer 
would be considered as an equivalent for it. All 
of his subsequent efforts in this line proved 
equally unsuccessful so far as totem-poles were 
concerned, and yet we remember that they are to 
be found in many of our public museums through- 
out the States, and we have seen large ones lying 
upon the ground moss covered and neglected. It 
appeared to be only the rich native who indulged 
in an individual totem-pole. The cost of one, say 
forty or fifty feet long, carved after the orthodox 
fashion, with the free feast given at all such rais- 
ings, is said to be over a thousand dollars. The 
more lavish the expenditure on these occasions, the 
greater the honor achieved by the host. 

There is a successful day-school established here 






MISSIONARY ENTERPRISES. 229 

besides the Indian Girls' Home, which is accom- 
plishing much good in educating the rising gener- 
ation, and in introducing civilized manners and cus- 
toms. The children evince a fair degree of natural 
aptitude, learning easily to read and write, but 
are a little dull, we were told, in arithmetic. 
Adult, uneducated natives, however, are quick 
enough at making all necessary calculations in 
their trades with the whites, either as purchas- 
ers of domestic goods, or in selling their peltries. 
The Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Mo- 
ravians, Quakers, Baptists, and Roman Catholics 
all have missionary stations in different parts of 
the country. Schools have also been established 
for the general instruction of whites and natives at 
Juneau, Sitka, Wrangel, Jackson, and other local- 
ities under direction of our government officials, 
and proper teachers have been supplied, the whole 
system being under the supervision of a compe- 
tent head. Mrs. J. G. Hyde, who teaches school 
at Juneau, in her last year's report, says : u Many 
of the scholars, who, when the term began last 
September, could not speak a word of English, can 
now not only speak, but read and write it. They 
can also spell correctly and are beginning in the 
first principles of arithmetic. To the casual ob- 
server perhaps nothing seems more absurd than the 
attempt by any process to enlighten the clouded 
intellect of this benighted people. Indeed, the 
most squalid street Arabs might be considered 
a thousand times more desirable as pupils. But a 
few days' work among and for them convinces the 



230 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

teacher that she has not a boisterous, uncontrol- 
lable lot of children, but as much the opposite as 
it is possible to imagine. Children who habitu- 
ally refrain from playing during intermission that 
they may learn some lesson or how to do some 
fancy work are not to be classed with the wild, 
wayward, or vicious. Boys who, when their regu- 
lar lessons are done, are continually designing and 
drawing cannot be said to be entirely devoid of 
talent worthy of cultivation. While the develop- 
ment must be slow in most cases, there are a few 
who would compare favorably with white children. 
Their abnormal development of the faculty of form 
gives them an inestimable advantage over their 
more favored pale-face brothers in acquiring the 
art of writing and drawing. Their mind acts very 
slowly, but they make up in tenacity of purpose 
what they lack in aptness." 

At Sitka there is an industrial school which is 
very successful training native boys and girls in 
mechanical and domestic occupations, and of which 
we will speak in detail in a further chapter. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Schools in Alaska. — Natives Ambitious to learn. — Wild Flow- 
ers. — Native Grasses. — Boat Racing. — Avaricious Natives. 
— The Candle Fish. — Gold Mines Inland. — Chinese Gold- 
Diggers. — A Ledge of Garnets. — Belief in Omens. — More 
Schools required. — The Pestiferous Mosquito. — Mosquitoes 
and Bears. — Alaskan Fjords. — The Patterson Glacier. 

The general plan of this school at Wrangel 
struck us as being the most promising means of 
improvement that could possibly be devised and 
carried forward among the aborigines of Alaska. 
We were informed that fourteen government day 
schools were in operation in the Territory, under 
the able supervision of that true philanthropist, 
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, United States General Agent 
for Education in the Territory. The natives al- 
most universally welcome and gladly improve the 
advantages afforded them for instruction, espe- 
cially as regards their children. Many individual 
cases with which the author became acquainted 
were of much more than ordinary interest ; indeed, 
it was quite touching to observe the eagerness of 
young natives to gain intellectual culture. Surely 
such incentive is worthy of all encouragement. 
One could not but. contrast the earnestness of 
these untutored aborigines to make the most of 
every opportunity for learning with the neglected 
opportunities of eight tenths of our pampered chil- 



232 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

dren of civilization. Here is the true field of mis- 
sion aiy work, the work of education. 

In the neighborhood of Fort Wrangel plenty of 
sweet wild flowers were observed in bloom, some 
especially of Alpine character were very interest- 
ing, — " wee, modest, crimson-tipped flowers," — 
while the tall blueberry bushes were crowded with 
wholesome and appetizing fruit, with here and 
there clusters of the luscious salmon-berry, yellow 
as gold, and so ripe as to melt in the mouth. At 
the earliest advent of spring the flowers burst 
forth in this latitude with surprising forwardness, 
a phenomenon also observable in northern Sweden 
and Norway. Such white clover heads are rarely 
seen anywhere else, large, well spread, and fra- 
grant as pinks. Among the ferns was an abun- 
dance of the tiny-leaved maiden's hair species, 
with delicate, chocolate stems. The soil also 
abounds in well-developed grasses, timothy grow- 
ing here to four feet and over in height, and the 
nutritious, stocky blue grass even higher. Veg- 
etation during the brief summer season runs riot, 
and makes the most of its opportunity. Although 
south of Sitka, Fort Wrangel is colder in winter 
and warmer in summer, on account of its distance 
from the influence of the thermal ocean current 
already described. 

Sometimes a purse is made up among the visit- 
ors here and offered as a prize to the natives in 
boat-racing. A number of long canoes, each with 
an Indian crew of from ten to sixteen, take part in 
the aquatic struggle, which proves very amusing, 



AVARICE. 233 

not to say exciting. The native boats are flat-bot- 
tomed, and glide over the surface of the water with 
the least possible displacement. An Alaskan is 
seen at his best when acting as a boatman ; he 
takes instinctively to the paddle from his earliest 
youth, and is never out of training for boat-ser- 
vice so long as he lives and is able to wield an oar. 
No university crew could successfully compete with 
these semi-civilized canoeists. Well-trained naval 
boat-crews have often been distanced by them. 

The avariciousness of the natives is exhibited in 
their readiness to sell almost any tiling they pos- 
sess for money, even to parting with their wives 
and daughters to the miners for base purposes ; 
though, as we have seen, they do draw the line at 
totem-poles. It should be understood that these 
queerly carved posts are emblems mostly of the 
past ; that is to say, although the natives carefully 
preserve those which now exist, few fresh ones are 
raised by them. Toy effigies representing these 
emblems are carved and offered for sale to curio- 
hunters at nearly all of the villages on the coast, 
and as a rule are readily disposed of. 

There is very little if any use in Alaska for 
artificial light during the summer season, while 
nature's grand luminary is so sleepless ; but when 
these aborigines do require a lamp for a special 
purpose, they have the most inexpensive and in- 
genious substitute ever ready at hand. The water 
supplies them with any quantity of the ulikon or 
candle-fish, about the size of our largest New 
England smelts, and which are full of oil. They 



234 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

are small in body, but over ten inches in length. 
They are prepared by a drying process and are 
stored away for use, serving both for food and 
for light. When a match is applied to one end 
of the dried ulikon, it will burn until the whole is 
quite consumed, clear and bright to the last, giv- 
ing a light equal to three or four candles. So 
rich are these fishes in oil that alcohol will not 
preserve them, a discovery which was made in pre- 
paring specimens for the Smithsonian Institution. 
When the Indians of the interior visit the coast, 
as many of them do annually, they are sure to lay 
in a stock of candle-fish to take back with them 
for use in the long Arctic night. This fish runs 
at certain seasons of the year in great schools from 
the sea, invading the fresh-water rivers near their 
mouths, when the natives rake them on shore by 
the bushel and preserve them as described. When 
boiled they produce an oil which hardens like 
butter, and which the Alaskans eat as we do 
that article, with this important difference, that 
they prefer their oil-butter to be quite rancid be- 
fore they consider it at its best, while civilized 
taste requires exactly the opposite condition, 
namely, perfect freshness. Putrid animal matter 
would certainly poison a white man, but the 
Alaskan Indians seem to thrive upon it. 

Some inland districts, which are most easily 
reached from this point, are rich in gold-bearing 
quartz and placer mines, but especially in the 
latter. We were credibly informed that over 
three million dollars' worth of gold was shipped 



INLAND GOLD MINES. 235 

from here in a period of five years, though no 
really organized and persistent effort at mining 
had been made, or rather we should sav no 
modern facilities had been employed in bringing 
about this result. The machinery for reducing 
gold-bearing quartz has not yet been carried far 
inland because of the great difficulty of transporta- 
tion. Gold quartz ledges are numerous and quite 
undeveloped in the neighborhood of Wrangel. 
The well-known Cassiar mines are situated just 
over the Alaska boundary on the east side in 
British Columbia, but the gold discoveries in 
Alaska proper are proving so much more profit- 
able that those of the Cassiar district have ceased 
to attract the miners. There is a curious fact con- 
nected with these deposits of the precious metal in 
the region approached by the way of Wrangel. In 
more than one instance, as reported by Captain 
White of the United States Revenue Service, 
placer gold, which is usually sought for in the 
dry beds of river courses and in low lands, is here 
found on the tops of mountains a thousand feet 
high, where the largest nuggets of the precious 
metal yet found in the Northwest have been 
obtained. Many of the lumps of pure gold picked 
up in this region have weighed thirty ounces and 
over. The idea of finding placer deposits on the 
tops of mountains is a novelty in gold prospectingo 
The Stickeen River, which is the largest in the 
southern part of the Territor} r , has its mouth in 
the harbor of Fort Wrangel, discoloring the waters 
for a long distance with its chalk-like, frothy flow, 



236 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

a characteristic of all Alaska streams into which 
the waters of the snowy mountains and glaciers 
empty. The river is navigable for light-draft 
stern-wheel steamers to Glenora, a hundred and 
fifty miles from its mouth. After reaching this 
place, the way to the Cassiar mines is overland 
for an equal distance by a difficult mountain trail, 
it being necessary to transport all provisions and 
material on the backs of natives, who have learned 
to demand good pay for this laborious service. 
The interior upon this route is broken into a suc- 
cession of sharply-defined mountains, separated by 
narrow and deep valleys, similar to the islands off 
the mainland. This is so decided a feature as to 
lead Mr. George Davidson of the United States 
Coast Survey to remark : " The topography of 
the Alexander Archipelago is a type of the in- 
terior. A submergence of the mountain region 
of the mainland would give a similar succession 
of islands, separated by deep narrow fjords." The 
sandy bed and banks of the Stickeen are heavily 
charged with particles of gold, ten dollars per day 
each being frequently realized by gangs of men 
who manipulate the same only in the most primi- 
tive fashion. Numbers of Chinamen availed them- 
selves of this opportunity until they were expelled 
by both the whites and the natives. The poor 
" Heathen Chinee " is unwelcome everywhere 
outside of his own Celestial Empire, and yet close 
observation shows, as we have already said, that 
these Asiatics have more good qualities than the 
average foreigners who seek a home on our 
shores. 



A LEDGE OF GARNETS. 237 

The scenery of the Stickeen River is pronounced 
by Professor Muir to be superb and grand beyond 
description. Three hundred glaciers are known 
to drain into its swift running waters, over one 
hundred of which are to be seen between Fort 
Wrangel and Glenora. Near the mouth of the 
river is the curious ledge of garnet crystals, which 
furnishes stones of considerable beauty and bril- 
liancy, though not sufficiently clear to be used as 
gems. Choice pieces are secured by visitors as 
cabinet specimens, however, and can be had, if 
desired, by the bushel, at a trifling cost. They 
occur in a matrix of slate-like formation, some so 
large as to weigh two or three ounces, and dimin- 
ishing from that size they are found as small as a 
pin-head. It requires three days of hard steam- 
ing against the current to ascend the river as far 
as Glenora from the mouth, whereas the same 
distance returning, down stream, has frequently 
been made in eight or ten hours. So necessarily 
rapid is the descent of the Stickeen as to make 
the downward trip quite hazardous, except in 
charge of a careful pilot. In the neighborhood of 
Fort Wrangel there are some very active boiling 
springs, which the natives utilize, as do the New 
Zealanders at Ohinemutu, by cooking their food 
in them. 

In the crater of Goreloi, on Burned Island, is a 
vast boiling spring, or rather a boiling lake, which 
has never been intelligently described, and which 
is represented by those who have seen it to be 
unique. This strange body of water is eighteen 



238 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

miles in circumference. The natives are well 
supplied with legends relating to these remarka- 
ble natural phenomena, including the extinct and 
active volcanoes. Genii and dreaded spirits are 
supposed by them to dwell in the extinct volca- 
noes, and to make their homes in the mountain 
caves. They believe that good spirits will not 
harm them, and therefore do not address them- 
selves to such, but the evil ones must by some 
active means be propitiated, and to them their 
sole attention is given, or, in other words, their 
religious ceremonies when analyzed are simply 
devil worship. All of the tribes, if we except 
the Aleuts, are held in abject fear by their con- 
jurers or medicine-men, who seemed to us to be 
the most arrant knaves conceivable, not possess- 
ing one genuine quality to sustain their assump- 
tions except that of bold effrontery. This seems 
particularly strange, as the aborigines of the North- 
west are more than ordinarily intelligent, com- 
pared with other half-civilized races, both in this 
and other lands. 

They are firm believers in signs and omens. 
When Rev. Mr. Willard and wife first came to 
the Chilcat country the winter was one of deep 
snows and stormy weather. The natives said that 
the weather-gods were angry at the new ways of 
the missionaries. A child had been buried instead 
of burned on the funeral pyre in accordance with 
their customs. The mother of the child became 
alarmed and felt that her life was in jeopardy for 
permitting her child to be buried, so she kindled 



BELIEF IN OMENS. 239 

a fire over the grave in order to appease the gods 
and bring fair weather. At school the children 
had played new games and mocked wild geese. 
So the girls of the Sitka Training School brought 
on a very cold spell of weather by playing a game 
called " cat's-back," and which caused a commo- 
tion at the native village. A white man out with 
some natives picked up some large clam-shells on 
the beach to bring home with him ; the natives 
remonstrated with him, saying that " a big storm 
may overtake us, our canoe might capsize, and all 
be drowned the next time we go on the water." 

In tempestuous weather the native propitiates 
the spirit of the storm by leaving a portion of 
tobacco in the rock-caves alongshore, but in calm 
weather he smokes the weed himself. It was 
noticed, however, that the aboriginal Alaskans 
were little given to the use of tobacco, less, in- 
deed, than any semi-civilized race whom the writer 
has ever visited. 

Governor Swineford, in his annual report to the 
department at Washington, dated 1886, says : " I 
have no reason to change or modify the estimate 
I had formed on very short acquaintance of the 
character of the native Alaskans. They are a 
very superior race intellectually as compared with 
the people generally known as North American 
Indians, and are as a rule industrious and provi- 
dent, being wholly self-sustaining. They are 
shrewd and natural- born traders. Some are good 
carpenters, others are skillful workers in wood and 
metals. Not a few among them speak the English 



240 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

language, and some of the young men and women 
have learned to read and write, and nearly all are 
anxious for the education of their children." 

Our government should act upon this hint and 
freely establish the means of education among the 
Alaskans. True, it is systematically engaged in 
promoting the cause in various ways, though not 
very energetically, Congress having voted forty- 
five thousand dollars to be expended for the pur- 
pose during the year 1889. " School-houses are 
the republican line of fortifications," said Horace 
Mann. " Among those best known," says Dr. Shel- 
don Jackson, speaking of the native tribes, " the 
highest ambition is to build American homes, pos- 
sess American furniture, dress in American clothes, 
adopt the American style of living, and be Amer- 
ican citizens. They ask no special favors from the 
American government, no annuities or help, but 
simply to be treated as other citizens, protected by 
the laws and courts, and in common with all 
others furnished with schools for their children." 
It was made the duty of the Secretary of the In- 
terior, by the act providing a civil government for 
Alaska, to make needful and proper provision for 
the education of all children of school age without 
reference to race or color, and all true friends of 
progress and humanity will urge the matter until a 
common school is established in every native tribe 
and settlement having a sufficient number of 
children. 

We were told that there is good hunting inland 
a short distance from Fort Wrangel ; winter, 



THE UBIQUITOUS MOSQUITO. 241 

however, is the only season when this can be suc- 
cessfully pursued near to the coast in the wild dis- 
tricts. The marshy " tundra " is then frozen and 
covered with snow, making it possible to cross. 
This is the period of the year also when the na- 
tives of the interior prosecute their most success- 
ful trapping and hunting, coming down to the 
coast by the river in the summer to sell their 
pelts and to purchase stores of the white traders. 
The Russians have long since taught the aborig- 
ines to depend much upon tea, but they care very 
little for coffee. Rifles are greatly prized by them, 
and though they are contraband nearly every In- 
dian manages to possess one and knows how to 
use it most effectually. They are very econom- 
ical of ammunition, and never throw away a shot 
by carelessness. 

The pestiferous and ubiquitous mosquito is not 
absent from these high latitudes. They are very 
troublesome during the short summer season in 
northern Alaska as well as among the islands of 
the Alexander Archipelago. Strange that so frail 
an insect should have reached as far north as man 
has penetrated. Even while climbing the frosty 
glaciers the excursionist will find both hands re- 
quired to prevent their biting his face from fore- 
head to chin. If they are a persistent pest in 
equatorial latitudes, they are ten times more ven- 
omous and voracious in these regions during Cer- 
es o 

tain seasons. The author has experienced this fact 
also in Norway at even a much higher latitude 
than he visited in the western hemisphere. The 



f 



242 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

bites of these mosquitoes fortunately, like all flesh 
wounds in this northern region, heal quickty, ven- 
omous as they are, owing to the liberally ozon- 
ized condition of the atmosphere as well as the 
absence of disease germs and organic dust. 

It is said that when the otter hunters or others 
among the aborigines get wounded in any way, 
their treatment is simple and efficacious, and 
however severe the wound may be, it is nearly 
always quickly healed. The victim of the acci- 
dent puts himself uncomplainingly on starvation 
diet, living upon an astonishingly small amount of 
food for a couple of weeks, and the cure follows 
rapidly. 

Frederick Schwatka, in his excellent book en- 
titled " Along Alaska's Great River," tells how 
the mosquitoes conquer and absolutely destroy the 
bears, and it seems that the native dogs are some- 
times overcome by them in some exposed districts 
of the Yukon valley. The great brown bear, 
having exhausted the roots and berries on one 
mountain side, cross the valley to another range, 
or rather makes the attempt to do so, but is not al- 
ways successful. Covered by a heavy coat of hair 
on his body, his eyes, nose, and ears are the only 
vulnerable points of attack for the mosquitoes, and 
hereon they congregate, surrounding the bear's 
head in clouds. As he reaches a swampy spot 
they increase in vigor and numbers, until the ani- 
mal's forepaws become so occupied in striving to 
keep them off that he cannot walk. Then Bruin 
becomes enraged, and, bear-like, rises on his hind 



ALASKAN FJORDS. 243 

legs to fight. It is a mere question of time after 
this stage is reached until the bear's eyes become 
so swollen from the innumerable bites that he can- 
not see, and in a blind condition he wanders help- 
lessly about until he gets mired and starves to 
death. The cinnamon and black bears are most 
common, the grizzly being less frequently met 
with. The great white polar bears are not found 
south of Behring Strait, though they are numerous 
on the borders of the Arctic Ocean. 

At every landing made by the steamer on our 
meandering course among the islands Indians 
come to the wharves to offer their curios or home- 
made articles, only valuable as souvenirs of the 
visit. As they mass themselves here and there, 
either on the shore or the ship's deck, they form 
picturesque groups, made up of bucks, squaws, 
and papooses, presenting charming bits of color, 
while they amuse the stranger by their peculiar 
physiognomy and manners. During the excur- 
sion season they must reap quite a harvest by the 
sale of baskets and various domestic trinkets. 

After leaving Fort Wrangel we are soon in the 
wild, picturesque, and sinuous narrows which bear 
the same name. The water is shallow ; here and 
there are many dangerous rocks in the channels. 
Inlets or fjords are often passed, so quiet and invit- 
ing in their appearance as to tempt the traveler 
to diverge from the usual route. Some of these 
marine nooks are deep enough to float the largest 
ship, yet far down through the clear water one 
can see gardens of zoophytes invaded by myriads 



244 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

of curiously shaped fish, large and small. The 
bottom of these waters, like the land and sea of 
Alaska, teems with animal life. A few hours' 
dredging would suppty the most enthusiastic nat- 
uralist with ample material for a year's study. 
In the many stops of the steamer to take or 
deliver freight, brief boat excursions can be en- 
joyed. On one of these occasions we saw the 
first live octopus, or devil - fish, with two of its 
fatal arms encircling a small fish, which, after 
squeezing out its life, the octopus would devour. 
The one which was seen on this occasion was not 
very large, the rounded body being, perhaps, 
eighteen or twenty inches across, but its vicious 
looking tentacles, six in number, two of which 
securely clasped its victim, were each three times 
that length. The large eyes seemed out of pro- 
portion to the animal's size, and were placed on 
one side like those of the flounder. 

The Patterson glacier is the first of the many 
which come into view on this part of the voyage, 
but they multiply rapidly as we steam north- 
ward. It is vast in proportions, though partly 
hidden behind the moraine which it has raised. 
Three or four miles back from its front rises a 
wall of solid ice nearly a thousand feet in height. 
The whole was rendered marvelously beautiful, 
lighted up as we saw it by bright noonday sun- 
shine, which brought out its frosty and opaline 
colors of white, scarlet, and blue, in brilliant array. 
Little has been written about the Patterson gla- 
cier, but it is one of the most remarkable in size 



GLACIERS. 245 

and other characteristics in all Alaska. Vessels 
from San Francisco have taken whole cargoes of 
ice from these Alaskan glaciers and transported 
the same for use in California. There seems to 
be no reason why the gathering of such a supply 
should not be both possible and profitable, though 
ice can now be so easily manufactured by artificial 
means. 

The fact that these glaciers are slowly decreas- 
ing in size leads to the conclusion that the ex- 
treme Arctic temperature in the north is slowly 
growing to be less intense. Intelligent captains 
of whaleships have made careful observations to 
a like effect. It was once tropical in the Yukon 
valley, — of that there is evidence enough ; who 
can say that it may not again be so a few thou- 
sand years hence ? 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Norwegian Scenery. — Lonely Navigation. — The Marvels of 
Takou Inlet. — Hundreds of Icebergs. — Home of the Frost 
King. — More Gold Deposits. — Snowstorm among the Peaks. 
— Juneau the Metropolis of Alaska. — Auk and Takou In- 
dians. — Manners and Customs. — Spartan Habits. — Dis- 
posal of Widows. — Duels. — Sacrificing Slaves. — Hideous 
Customs still prevail. 

Before reaching Juneau we explored Takou 
Inlet, where there are two large glaciers, one with 
a moraine before its foot, the other reaching the 
deep water with its face, so as to discharge ice- 
bergs constantly. The bay was well filled with 
these, some of which were larger than our steamer 
(the Corona), and all were of such intense blue, 
mingled with dazzling white, as to recall the effect 
realized in the Blue Grotto of Capri. This berg- 
producing glacier was corrugated upon its surface 
in a remarkable manner, being utterly impassable 
to human feet. It was nearly a mile in width and 
its length indefinite; we doubt if it has ever been 
explored. A thousand ice and snow fed streams 
poured into the bay from the surrounding moun- 
tains, which completely walled in the broad sheet 
of water, so sprinkled with ice-sculpture in all 
manner of shapes. The ceaseless music of falling 
water was the only noise which broke the silence 
of the scene. A cavalcade of fleecy clouds, kindly 



TAKOU INLET. 247 

forgetting to precipitate themselves in form of rain, 
floated over our heads, producing delicate lights and 
shades, with creeping shadows upon the surround- 
ing mountains. The steamer's abrupt whistle was 
echoed with mocking hoarseness from the sur- 
rounding cliffs, causing the myriads of white- 
winged wild fowl to rise from the icebergs until 
the air was filled with them like snowflakes. How 
wonderful it was ! A broad clear flood of sun- 
shine enveloped the whole ; everything seemed so 
serene, so grand, the sky so blue, and the angels 
so near. It was all as magnificent as a gorgeous 
dream, to the thoughtful observer a living poem. 
Close in to the precipitous cliffs of the myrtle- 
green hills were inky shadows, which formed the 
requisite contrast to the crystal clearness of the 
surroundings. For thousands of years this glacial 
action has been going on, the story of the earth is 
so old ; but its beauty is ever young, its loveliness 
eternal. 

On our way up Gastineau Channel — the tide- 
waters of which have a rise and fall of sixteen 
feet — we have presented to us veritable Norwe- 
gian sceneiy, under a pale amethyst sky fringed 
at the horizon with orange and crimson ; now glid- 
ing close to precipitous cliffs enlivened by silvery 
streams leaping down their sides, and now passing 
the mouths of inlets winding among abrupt moun- 
tains leading no one knows whither, for there are 
no maps or charts of these lateral channels. The 
Indian canoes may have occasionally penetrated 
them, but never the keel of the white man. On 



248 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

the left stand the tall peaks of Douglas Island, 
and on the right the jagged Alps of the mainland, 
both rising to a height of a thousand feet or more, 
on the continent side backed by elevations still 
more lofty. The Takou River flows into the sea 
and gives its name to the neighborhood. Here 
the Hudson Bay Fur Company established and 
maintained a trading-post for several years. All 
this region is famous for its game, such as deer, 
bears, caribou, wolves, foxes, martens, and minks, 
together with the abounding big-horn sheep. In 
place of wool these latter have a coat somewhat 
like the red deer, and except in the size of their 
horns they resemble our domestic sheep. We 
are told that this district is also rich in gold placer 
mines, and according to Professor Muir it must 
eventually yield extremely profitable results to in- 
telligent mining enterprise. In many localities 
the placers have paid for years, though worked by 
the most simple means. The experience of Cali- 
fornia will undoubtedly be repeated in Alaska ; 
the great aggregate of gold which was realized 
there will be duplicated here. After due thought 
and personal observation relative to the subject, 
we are willing to stand or fall upon the correct- 
ness of this prediction. The result may not come 
in the next year, or that following, but it will 
come in the near future. Mining north of 54° 40' 
is only in its infancy ; its growth has been far 
more rapid, however, than it was at the south, 
both because of the richness of the mines, and be- 
cause the business of mining is, and will continue 
to be, done more intelligently. 



JUNEAU. 249 

Just before reaching Juneau a singular phenom- 
enon attracted our attention ; it was a furious 
snowstorm among the mountain peaks, while all 
about us was quite calm and pleasant. The thick 
clouds of snow were driven hither and thither, from 
one pinnacle to another, writhing and twisting like 
a cyclone or water-spout at sea. It was a curious 
contrast, the storm raging in those far upper cur- 
rents, while we enjoyed a gracious wealth of sun- 
shine in a temperature of 65° Fah. 

Juneau, located one hundred and fifty miles 
southeast of Sitka, and about three hundred north 
of Fort Wrangel, is already a considerable mining 
centre, with a population of about four thousand, 
situated not far from Takou district, and is the 
depot for the rich quartz and placer mines which 
are located in the region back of it. The site of 
the town is picturesque, being at the base of an 
abrupt mountain cliff which is decked with spark- 
ling cascades. We were told that there is a rise 
and fall of twenty- four feet in the tide at the 
wharf of Juneau, but think perhaps eighteen feet 
would be nearer correct. The winter population is 
swelled by the influx of miners when the placers 
are not worked owing to snow and ice. Truth 
compels us to say that the residents here, of both 
sexes, are far from being of a desirable class. The 
Indians of this vicinity are of the Auk and Takou 
tribes; good traders and good hunters, but enemies 
of each other, though not given to open hostility. 
The native women, as if not content with the nat- 
ural ugliness which has been liberally bestowed 



250 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

upon them by Providence, besmear their faces with 
a compound of seal-oil and lampblack, but for 
what possible reason, except that it is aboriginal 
Alaska fashion, one cannot divine. It is said that 
this is a sort of mourning for departed relations or 
friends ; but the hilarity of those thus marked was 
anything but an indication of sorrow. We can 
well remember Yokohama wives, with blackened 
teeth and shaved eyebrows, who looked, if possi- 
ble, a degree worse than these Alaskan women. 
In the latter case, however, the wives confessedly 
sought to make themselves hideous to prevent jeal- 
ousy on the part of their husbands ; but the native 
women here do not assign any plausible reason 
for smooching themselves in this offensive manner. 
When their faces are washed, a circumstance of 
rare occurrence, they are as white as the average 
of white people who are exposed to an out-of-door 
life. It is not the practice of the aborigines of 
either sex to wash themselves with water. They 
are sometimes seen to besmear their faces and 
hands with oil, which they carefully wipe off with 
a wisp of dry grass, or other substitute for the 
towel of civilization. The effect is to make the 
features shine like varnished mahogany ; but as to 
cleanliness obtained by such, a process, that does 
not follow. 

If it were possible to discover a soap mine here 
there might be some hopes of introducing among 
the natives that condition which common accepta- 
tion places next to godliness. A traveling com- 
panion remarked that although milk and honey 



FEMALE EMBELLISHMENTS. 251 

could not be said to flow in this neighborhood, oil 
does. 

Many of the women, like those of the South 
Sea and the Malacca Straits, wear nose rings and 
glittering bracelets, while they go about with bare 
legs and feet. The author has seen all sorts of 
rude decorations employed by savage races, but 
never one which seemed quite so ridiculous or so 
deforming as the plug which many of these women 
of Alaska wear thrust through their under lips. 
The plug causes them to drool incessantly through 
the artificial aperture, though it is partially stopped 
by a. piece of bone, ivory, or wood, formed like a 
large cuff-button, with a flat-spread portion in- 
side to keep it in position. This practice is com- 
menced in youth, the plug being increased in size 
as the wearer advances in age, so that when she 
becomes aged her lower lip is shockingly deformed. 
It is gratifying to be able to say that this custom 
is becoming less and less in use among the rising 
generation, and the same may be said as to tattoo- 
ing the chin and cheeks. The hands and feet of 
the women are so small as to be noticeable in that 
respect. 

The girls and boys endure great physical neg- 
lect in their youth, so that only the strongest are 
able to survive their childhood. It was surprising 
to see children of tender age of both sexes clothed 
only in a single cotton shirt, reaching to their 
knees, bare-legged, bare-footed, and bare-headed, 
yet apparently quite comfortable, while our woolen 
clothes and waterproofs were to us indispensable. 



252 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

We were told that in infancy these children are 
dipped every morning into the sea, without regard 
to the temperature, or season of the year, com- 
mencing the operation when they are four weeks 
old. This heroic, Spartan treatment of the bath 
will probably harden, if it does not kill, but un- 
doubtedly the latter result is the more likely of 
the two. The adults of some of the tribes break 
holes in the ice in midwinter, and bathe with 
marvelous fortitude, not for purposes of cleanli- 
ness, but declaring that it makes them " brave and 
strong, able to resist the cold, and to live long." 
The next hour, however, they may be found sit- 
ting on their hams as close to the fire in the mid- 
dle of their unventilated cabins as they can get, 
closely wrapped in blankets, head and all. The 
prevalence among them of rheumatism and con- 
sumption shows that Nature cannot be outraged 
with impunity even by half-civilized Alaskans. 

The natives do not seem to know anything 
about medicine, but when seriously ill they call in 
their shaman or medicine-man, and submit to his 
wild and senseless incantations, a process which 
would drive a civilized patient distracted. Fifty 
years ago an epidemic of small-pox swept away 
one third of the population of this part of the 
North Pacific coast, besides which, from various 
causes, the number in the several tribes is steadily 
decreasing. Vaccination having been introduced, 
a second visit of the dreaded disease just men- 
tioned was accompanied with a very much smaller 
fatality. A scourge known as black measles is a 



RUM THE NATIVE'S BANE. 253 

frequent visitor among the youthful Alaskans, and 
is quite as fatal as small-pox. 

Strong efforts are made by our government 
officials to keep intoxicating liquors out of the 
Territory, and the law makes them strictly con- 
traband, but it is no more difficult or impossible 
to smuggle in Alaska than it is in New York or 
Boston. There are plenty of irresponsible whites 
ready to make money out of the aborigines. Rum 
is the native's bane, its effect upon him being sin- 
gularly fatal ; it maddens him, even slight intoxi- 
cation means to him delirium and all its conse- 
quences, wild brutality and utter demoralization. 
Molasses is sold freely to them, and the Indians 
have learned how to distill rum from it, so that 
they secretly produce a vile and potent intoxicant, 
in spite of all prohibition. 

When a native husband dies his brother's or 
sister's son, according to their custom, must marry 
the widow, but if there is no male relative of the 
husband's living, the widow may then choose for 
herself. If the individual who thus falls heir to 
a widow does not fancy the conditions, he must 
buy himself off, or fight the widow's nearest male 
relative. Oftentimes, if the new alliance is par- 
ticularly disagreeable, the victim escapes by pay- 
ing so much cash or so many blankets. There 
seems to be no hurt to a native's honor that pecu- 
niary consideration will not promptly heal. Cor- 
poral punishment is considered by these aborigines 
to be a great disgrace, and is very seldom resorted 
to even with rebellious children. Theft is not 



254 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

looked upon as a crime ; but if discovered, the 
thief must make ample restitution ; and when his 
peculation is known he promptly does so without 
question or murmur. They have the duel as a de- 
cisive means of settling family feuds. When mat- 
ters have come to the last resort, there is no se- 
cret about the matter. The two combatants fight 
publicly with knives, their friends looking on and 
singing songs while the combat lasts. But these 
duels, the same as with many other earlier savage 
practices, are now nearly obsolete. Like our 
Western Indians, their method of war was the 
ambush and surprise, and like them they scalped 
their prisoners and subjected them to savage cru- 
elties. This also is more of the past than the 
present, as no open conflicts would now be per- 
mitted by the United States officials. The natives 
deck themselves with paint, — yellow ochre, — 
and look very much like the Sioux and Apache 
Indians in this respect. A century ago they were 
armed with flint-capped lances, bows, and arrows, 
but association with the whites has now supplied 
them with firearms. The old style of native 
weapons has consequently disappeared, except the 
lance with which they hunt the sea-otter. Fire- 
arms they do not use in this occupation, fearing to 
frighten away the valuable game altogether. They 
still manufacture bows and arrows for sale as 
curiosities to visiting strangers. They pride them- 
selves upon their accomplishments in singing and 
dancing, but which to civilized ears and eyes are 
only the grossest caricatures. In these notes of 



SLAVES. 255 

the natives we refer to no one tribe, bat to the 
aborigines of Alaska generally. The various 
tribes of course differ from each other. Those most 
in contact with the whites, having abolished many 
of their ancient habits, have adopted in a certain 
degree such customs as they see the white people 
follow. The holding of slaves is still practiced 
among them. Formerly, as we have said, one or 
two of these were sacrificed when their owner died, 
if he was a chief, in order that he might be well 
attended in the new sphere upon which he was 
entering ; but this practice also has passed away 
in most communities, with many other cruelties 
which were once common. These slaves are gen- 
erally descendants of parents who were taken in 
battle during civil wars, though they are also 
bought and sold for so many otter- skins, or so 
many blankets. Such persons are always submis- 
sive, and accept the position in which they find 
themselves as a matter of course. This enforced 
servitude will soon be entirely abolished. 

Female infanticide has not been uncommon with 
some tribes, but it does not prevail as has been 
represented by late writers. It is true that there 
have been cases where mothers, dreading to bring 
up their girls to such lives of hardship as they 
have themselves endured, have resorted to this 
desperate alternative, but careful inquiry did not 
satisfy us that such a practice now prevails if, 
indeed, it has not entirely ceased. In common 
with nearly all semi-civilized and savage races, 
the native Alaskans regard their women more in 



256 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

the light of slaves than as help-mates, and nearly 
all the hard work, except hunting and fishing, falls 
to their share. This is not a peculiarity of savage 
life, after all ; horses and mules are not harder 
worked than are women in Germany and various 
parts of Europe. The writer has seen women 
carrying hods of bricks and mortar up long lad- 
ders in Munich, while their husbands drank huge 
" schooners " of beer and smoked tobacco in the 
nearest groggery. 

Here and there among the several tribes, strange, 
unnatural, hideous customs are still extant, rela- 
tive to wives about to become mothers, and as to 
young girls arriving at the age of puberty. We 
realize, however, that is not for us to look at this 
people through the lens of any small circum- 
scribed moral code, but with kindly, hopeful 
views, guided by a due consideration of their 
normal condition. The conventionalities of civil- 
ization do not apply ; latitude and longitude make 
broad differences as to what constitutes vice and 
virtue, reason or unreason. Modern instances are 
inadequate as a criterion of comparison. One 
who has traveled in many lands has learned to ex- 
pand his horizon of judgment to accord with his 
geographical experience. 

Notwithstanding the light in which the Alas- 
kan regards his women, there seems to be a uni- 
versal concession made to them in all matters of 
trade, wherein they undoubtedly hold the veto 
power, and in some other respects their domestic 
authority is promptly acknowledged. Just where 



POLYGAMOUS WIVES. 257 

the line is drawn does not seem to be clear to a 
stranger. After a native had sold us some trifle, 
his wife in more than one instance came and 
demanded it back again, carefully refunding the 
consideration which was given for the same. To 
this interference the husband seemed forced to 
submit in silence, — forced by the arbitrary cus- 
tom of his tribe. We were told that even among 
themselves an agreement amounted to nothing at 
all, as they claim the right, and exercise it, of 
undoing any contract at will, provided the consid- 
eration which passed is promptly refunded. Even 
the white traders are obliged to yield to this 
singular idea to a certain extent, for the sake of 
peace. 

The story so often told about polygamous 
wives, that is women with husbands in the plural, 
cannot be absolutely denied, but is an exaggera- 
tion of facts. Such relations we were told did 
exist, but to no great extent, among the tribes of 
Alaska. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Aboriginal Dwellings. — Mastodons in Alaska. — Few Old Peo- 
ple alive. — Abundance of Rain. — The Wonderful Treadwell 
Gold Mine. — Largest Quartz Crushing Mill in the World. — 
Inexhaustible Riches. — Other Gold Mines. — The Great 
Davidson Glacier. — Pyramid Harbor. — Native Frauds. — 
The Chilcats. — Mammoth Bear. — Salmon Canneries. 

Ik some portions of the country the aboriginal 
dwellings are constructed partly under ground ; 
this is especially the case in the far north among 
the Eskimos proper, on the coast of the Polar Sea. 
Such cabins are entered by a tunnel ten feet long, 
so low and small as to compel the occupants to creep 
upon their hands and knees in passing through 
it. The tunnel-entrance, which always faces the 
most favorable point, is covered with a rude shed 
to protect it from the snow and the severity of the 
weather. The cabins are conical in form, cov- 
ered with turf and mud, a hole being left at the 
top to permit the smoke to escape. The fire is 
built in the middle of the apartment on the 
ground. Around the space left for this purpose 
is a platform of a few inches in height arranged 
for living and sleeping upon. At night, in ex- 
treme cold weather, a flap of skins is so arranged 
that it can be drawn over the opening in the roof 
which serves as a chimney, and thus, the entrance 
being also closed, the occupants become hermeti- 



MASTODONS. 259 

cally sealed, as it were, thoroughly outraging all 
our modern ideas of ventilation. Twelve or 
fifteen persons are often found together in such a 
cabin with its one room, where the decencies of 
life are utterly ignored, and where the stench to 
civilized nostrils is really something dreadful to 
encounter. 

This description refers to the winter homes of 
the people, where they hibernate like some species 
of wild animals, but for the milder portion of the 
year the Eskimos are nomadic, traveling hither 
and thither, seeking the most favorable locations 
for hunting and fishing, while living in rudely 
constructed camps. They use tents adapted for 
this itinerant life, made from prepared walrus 
hides supported by a light framework of wooden 
poles. The more thrifty supply themselves with 
canvas tents bought of the whites, as being handier 
for use and transportation. 

Speaking of the interior of the country, we have 
the authority of Mr. C. F. Fowler, late agent of 
the Alaska Fur Company, and long resident in 
the country, and of Ex-Governor Swineford, both 
of whom have carefully investigated the subject, 
for stating that there exists a huge species of ani- 
mals, believed to be representatives of the sup- 
posed extinct mammoth, found in herds not far 
from the headwaters of the Snake River, on the 
interior plateaus of Alaska. The natives call 
them " big-teeth " because of the size of their 
ivory tusks. Some of these, weighing over two 
hundred pounds each, were from animals so 



260 THE NEW ELDOBADO. 

lately killed as to still have flesh upon them, and 
were purchased by Mr. Fowler, who brought them 
to the coast. These mammoths are represented 
to average twenty feet in height and over thirty 
feet in length, in many respects resembling ele- 
phants, the body being covered with long, coarse, 
reddish hairs. The eyes are larger, the ears smaller, 
and the trunk longer and more slender than those 
of the average elephant. The two tusks which 
Mr. Fowler brought away with him each measured 
fifteen feet in length. 

The author has almost universally found among 
savage races at least a few very old people of 
both sexes, who were apparently revered and 
carefully provided for by their descendants and 
associates, but here among the aborigines aged 
persons are certainly not often to be seen. 
Whether it is that, hardy and robust as they gen- 
erally appear to be, they do not, as a rule, live to 
advanced years, or that a summary method is 
adopted to get rid of them after they have out- 
lived their usefulness, it is impossible to say. We 
were told that such is certainly the case with 
some of the tribes farthest from the influence and 
supervision of the whites, and that half a century 
ago the extremely old, being considered useless, 
were frequently " disposed " of. It is clear enough 
that there is nothing in the climate of this region 
in any way inimical to health and longevity. 

The women of the Takou district are very ex- 
pert and industrious. They occupy a large por- 
tion of their time in weaving baskets of split 



RAINFALL. 261 

cedar, far exceeding any similar Indian work 
which we have chanced to see elsewhere, both in 
the coloring and the very ingenious combination 
of figures. Some of these baskets are so closely 
woven out of the dried inner bark of the willow- 
tree that they will hold water without leaking ; 
the author also saw drinking-cups thus manufac- 
tured. Visitors rarely fail to bring away interest- 
ing specimens of native work in this particular 
line ; the fine straw goods of Manila do not ex- 
cel this in delicacy and beauty. In addition to 
this attractive basket-work from the hands of the 
women, the men of the tribe exhibit their natural 
skill by carving silver bracelets (made from dol- 
lar and half dollar coins), miniature totem-poles, 
horn and wooden spoons, baby rattles and canoes, 
in a very curious and original manner. Once a 
fortnight, during the summer season, on the ar- 
rival of an excursion party by steamer from the 
south, the natives are, as a rule, completely cleared 
out of their entire stock of these productions, and 
they do not fail to realize fair prices, enabling 
them to live very comfortably. 

Though Sitka is the capital of the Territory, 
Juneau is the principal settlement and headquar- 
ters of the mining interests, containing over seven 
hundred white residents. We have seen no sta- 
tistics of the annual rainfall here, but can well 
believe it to be what a certain person told us it 
was, namely, over nine feet. It seemed to us that 
the permanent residents should be web -footed. 
The cause of this humidity is very evident. There 



262 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

arises from the warm Japanese Current on the 
coast a constant and profuse moisture. This the 
winds convey bodily against the frosty sides of 
the neighboring mountains, and then it is precip- 
itated as rain ; at certain seasons of the year it 
continues for weeks together. 

There is compensation even in the fact of this 
large annual rainfall, which at first thought seems 
to be such an objection to this district. The gold- 
bearing quartz which prevails here is treated, nec- 
essarily, by what is known as the wet process, re- 
quiring at all times an ample supply of water. 
One successful superintendent told the author that 
ore which is here so profitable would be in a dry 
region, like that of some portions of our Western 
States, worthless, or comparatively so, as it would 
have to be transported in bulk to a more favor- 
able locality. It seems to require two rainy days 
to one pleasant one, which is about the average 
proportion in the year, to provide sufficient water 
to work these large deposits properly. The sys- 
tem of disintegrating, and of reclaiming the pre- 
cious metal from the flint -like combination in 
which it is held is marvelous in detail, evincing 
the rapid progress which has been made in me- 
chanical and chemical processes in our day. 

It is found that June, July, and August are the 
favorable months for the traveler to turn his face 
towards the shores of Alaska, this being the sea- 
son when the pleasant weather is most continu- 
ous. It is not extremes of cold, but an over-abun- 
dance of moisture in the shape of rain, which one 



THE TREADWELL GOLD MINE. 263 

must prepare for. An ample waterproof outside 
garment will be found at times very serviceable. 

The Treadwell gold mine, just opposite Juneau, 
on Douglas Island, is undoubtedly the largest in 
the world, running at the present time two hun- 
dred and forty stamps, the mill and machinery 
having cost over half a million dollars; and though 
the author has visited the mines of Colorado, Mon- 
tana, California, New Zealand, and Australia, he 
has certainly never seen its superior in capacity 
and golden promise. It is a true gold-bearing 
quartz visible at the surface, four hundred and 
sixty -four feet in width. The company owns 
three thousand running feet upon this deposit, — 
it can hardly be called a vein, — parts of which 
have been tunneled and shafted simply to test its 
extent, showing it to be practically inexhaustible, 
no bottom having been found to the gold-bearing 
quartz, nor any diminution in the quality of the 
ore. The mill is run upon this quartz the whole 
year, but as it is owned by a private corporation, 
and there is no stock for sale, the exact output of 
the mine is not known. The writer feels safe in 
saying, however, that no such body of gold-bearing 
quartz is known to be in existence elsewhere. 

The laborers do not have to work in dark, un- 
derground channels; all is above ground, and in 
the season when darkness comes it is dispelled b}^ 
electric lights. No timbering or shafting is re- 
quired ; it is simply an open quarry. Captain John 
Codman, after visiting the mine, writes: "We 
walked through the golden streets of this New 



264 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Jerusalem, with golden walls on either side, and 
wondered what men could do with so much 
money." It is not a little confusing to a stranger, 
when he first enters the great Treadwell Mill, 
to be greeted by the deafening cannonade of two 
hundred and forty stamps. Each stamp weighs 
nine hundred pounds, and the crushing capacity 
of the whole mill is seven hundred and twenty 
tons per day. The gold is shipped to the mint in 
San Francisco in the form of bricks worth from 
fifteen to eighteen thousand dollars each. 

Douglas Island was named by Vancouver in 
honor of his friend the Bishop of Salisbury, and is 
eighteen miles long by about ten in width. This 
remarkable quartz vein is believed to run the 
whole length, though it is not always visible at 
the surface. Governor Swineford, in one of his 
annual reports, expresses his belief that ere long 
the gold produced in this section alone will exceed 
annually the amount which was paid to Russia 
for the whole of Alaska. This island, like Bara- 
noff upon which Sitka is situated, is absolutely 
seamed with gold-bearing quartz, and has been 
carefully prospected and recorded by people inter- 
ested in mining. Three hundred laborers are regu- 
larly employed at the Treadwell Mill, whose seven 
owners are opulent citizens of San Francisco. The 
work is prosecuted with great system and intelli- 
gence. The quartz of this mine is not so rich as 
that of many others, yielding on an average less 
than ten dollars to the ton, but it is so immense 
in quantity, and is so easily worked, that the 



SILVER BOW BASIN. 265 

aggregate yield of the precious metal is indeed 
remarkable. The mill turned out in the first 
twelve months after it was started seven hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars in bullion, and is prob- 
ably producing at this writing three times that 
amount yearly. 

The mine is admirably situated for the pur- 
pose of receiving or shipping freight, as vessels 
drawing twenty feet of water can lie alongside of 
the rocks which form the natural shore less than 
one hundred yards from the quartz mill. We 
were informed that sixteen million dollars have 
been offered and refused for this property. The 
would-be purchasers were members of a French 
syndicate. The agent says that the owners have 
but one price, namety, twenty-five million dol- 
lars, and they are in no haste to part with their 
property even at that sum. On the mainland, just 
across the channel from Douglas Island, three or 
four miles back of Juneau, is Silver Bow Basin, 
where there are gold deposits of vast extent and 
richness. Here quite a population is engaged in 
placer and quartz mining. The miners present 
a motley crowd with their picks, shovels, and red 
shirts, many with a stump tobacco pipe between 
their lips, and all with eager faces. 

A spacious and thoroughly equipped quartz mill 
is being erected by a Boston company of capitalists 
for the purpose of developing a large property 
which it is thought will nearly equal the Tread- 
well in its output of the precious metal. This is 
known as the Nowell mine, and it is said that the 



266 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

quartz assays one hundred dollars and over to the 
ton. Silver Bow Basin is a small round valley ly- 
ing in the lap of the mountains, accessible through 
a deep gulch behind the town. It is surrounded 
by noisy waterfalls, which supply just the needed 
power for manipulating the gold quartz. Across 
the range is another rich mineral locality, known 
as Dix Bow Basin. 

On Admiralty Island, near the northwest end of 
Douglas Island, opposite Takou Inlet, there has 
lately been discovered several gold deposits which 
are owned by a Boston company. The prospect- 
ings upon some of this well-defined vein have 
developed a percentage of gold to the ton so large 
that we hesitate to specify it. " Thirty years 
ago," said Mr. Thomas S. Nowell to us, "the 
mines of Alaska would have proved comparatively 
valueless ; the machinery and process that are 
now so successfully applied to reducing the ores 
were then unknown. The great economy and 
consequent profit is derived from late discoveries 
which are now perfected, producing machinery 
which works as though it had the power of 
thought." 

The names of several other profitable mining 
enterprises in this vicinity might be given, but we 
have said enough to indicate the great mineral 
wealth of this portion of the Territory, and to 
justify our title of The New Eldorado. There 
are abundant gold indications all along the coast, 
as well as upon the islands. In the sands of any 
considerable stream between Cape Fox and Cook's 



INEXHAUSTIBLE RICHES. 267 

Inlet the "color" of gold can be obtained by the 
simple process of panning. The question is not 
where gold can be found in Alaska, for it seems 
to be wonderfully and abundantly distributed, but 
as to what localities will best pay to expend 
capital in developing. A number of abandoned 
claims show that the failure to realize a satisfac- 
tory profit in gold mining by eager, impatient, 
and unreasonable individual seekers without proper 
machinery is as frequent as in any other business 
enterprise awkwardly planned. This is as appar- 
ent in Africa, Australia, and California as it is in 
this region. The Tread well mine on Douglas 
Island is in latitude 58° 16' north, just about on a 
line with Edinburgh, Scotland. 

We quote once more Mr. No well's own words : 
" The mountains of Alaska abound in gold-bear- 
ing quartz, the extent of their deposits exceeding 
any similar discoveries in the world. There is 
without doubt more gold-bearing quartz on Doug- 
las Island alone, which can be worked at a hand- 
some profit, than ten thousand stamps could crush 
in a century ; a well-defined vein from two to six 
hundred feet wide traversing the island for at least 
from six to eight miles." 

There is a missionary family, supported by the 
Quaker persuasion, located at Douglas Island, 
whose earnest effort in civilizing and teaching 
the natives has been crowned with considerable 
success. The self-abnegation and conscientious 
labor of these people are truly worthy of all com- 
mendation. 



268 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Soon after leaving Juneau, when near the head 
of Lynn Channel, the grand Davidson glacier 
comes into view, filling the space between two 
lofty mountains. It measures twelve hundred feet 
high by some three miles in breadth, being as 
wide as a frozen sea and as deep as the ocean. 
"While looking upon it one is overawed by a sense 
of its immensity and grandeur, as it seems hang- 
ing, poised, ready to drop into the fathomless sea. 
Where we pass it there intervenes a terminal mo- 
raine overgrown with trees and green foliage, which 
contrasts vividly with the icy background formed 
by the glacier. The glaciers of Europe are mere 
pygmies in comparison with this marvel, which is 
named after Professor Davidson, who has carefully 
explored and described it. Both the Muir and 
Davidson glaciers are spars of the same great ice- 
field, which has an unbroken expanse large enough 
to lie over the whole republic of Switzerland. 
The Muir glacier will be reached presently in 
Glacier Bay. 

Soon after leaving the Davidson glacier we are 
in Pyramid Harbor. This is the region of the 
Chilcats, who were formerly one of the most 
warlike tribes in the Territory, but who seem 
to have outlived their belligerent propensities. 
Their rude, but picturesque cabins dot the neigh- 
boring shore. The little settlement here consists 
mostly of bark huts and a substantial trader's 
store, together with an extensive and successful 
fish - cannery. The product of the latter is over 
a million pounds of fish per annum, the whole 



THE CHILCATS. 269 

being engaged for 1889 to a Liverpool firm. This 
amount is shipped in seventy thousand cases of 
about fifty pounds each ; the fish are packed in tins 
holding a pound each. This is an average amount 
as regards various factories on the coast, though 
some very much exceed it. The Indians now 
cheerfully accept employment from the whites, 
and gladly receive the regular wages which may 
be agreed upon. They appear to be the best carv- 
ers on the coast, and have an abundance of their 
handiwork to sell to the interested white visitors. 
These articles consist of carvings in ivory (walrus' 
teeth), decorated sheep-horns, copper and silver 
bracelets, bows, arrows, and spearheads. As en- 
gravers on copper and silver the Chilcats excel 
all other people of the Northwest. Some of their 
women wear a dozen narrow bracelets on each 
arm, all of home manufacture. They are also 
skillful in making ear-rings, and ornamental combs 
out of ivory and sheep's horn. As successful 
imitators they are remarkable, and will almost 
exactly reproduce any design which is given to 
them as a pattern. It seems strange that so ag- 
gressive and warlike a tribe should be skilled in 
carving and many mechanical productions. 

Certain people have bestowed much honest but 
needless sympathy upon these "poor abused In- 
dians." Such persons may be assured that they 
are amply able to look out for themselves and their 
own interests, as regards all material matters. 
No white man can get any advantage over an 
Alaskan native in the way of trade; they are 



270 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

sharpness itself in such things. For instance, 
these Chilcats a few years since observed that 
the white traders were particularly desirous of 
obtaining black fox skins, and that for such pelts 
they would willingly pay a handsome advance 
over skins of other colors ; a fine skin of this 
sort bringing as high as thirty dollars, while the 
common red ones were not worth quarter of that 
sum. The innocent natives soon began to pro- 
duce the black skins in large quantities and re- 
ceived their pay accordingly. Surprise being at 
last excited by the remarkable abundance of the 
black pelts, an explanation of the cause was sought, 
when it was finally discovered that by a secret 
process of dyeing the natives had made the red 
fox skins temporarily into black. This was done so 
cunningly that nothing but a careful examination 
would detect the outrageous cheat, and not anti- 
cipating anything of the kind the traders were 
not on their guard. Of course no dyeing process 
which they possessed was of a permanent nature 
as applied to pelts, and these black furs when they 
came to be prepared for market rapidly resumed 
their natural color. When charged with this gross 
deception, the Chilcats assumed the most innocent 
expression and denied any knowledge whatever in 
the premises, only saying : " Fox, him get black 
before him caught," thus lying concerning their 
trickery as volubly as any white rogue might have 
done. 

We are told of several of these tricks played off 
by the "poor abused Indians," one instance of 



CHILCAT "APTITUDE." 271 

which we remember as having occurred at Fort 
Wrangel, illustrating the u aptitude " of the abo- 
rigines, not to give it any harder name. It seems 
that a kindly disposed missionary, by exercis- 
ing great patience, had taught some Indians to 
read and write, and in the consciousness of his 
own intentions felt amply paid by the goodly 
progress of his pupils. One of these young men, 
not over twenty years of age, was especially curi- 
ous about arithmetic, and made considerable prog- 
ress in figures in a very short time. He was soon 
after hired by the superintendent of a fish-can- 
ning establishment as a special assistant, with 
good wages. Being given a note or due-bill of 
twenty-five dollars by his employer, he quickly 
saw his chance, and adroitly raised the figures to 
two hundred and fifty dollars, got the bill cashed 
at one of the neighboring trading establishments, 
and suddenly disappeared with the proceeds there- 
of. He has not since been seen. 

The Chilcats have, until within a few years, 
forcibly kept the natives of the interior away from 
the coast and the white men, thus monopolizing 
the land fur-trade by acting as middle-men, so to 
speak, but this embargo is now entirely removed. 
By this and some other means, being naturally 
thrifty and saving, they have come to be the rich- 
est and most independent tribe of Indians in the 
Northwest. Their women manufacture the famous 
and really very fine Chilcat blankets, which are 
slowly woven by hand on a primitive loom. The 
base of these blankets is the long fleece of the 



272 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

mountain goats, which is tastefully manufactured 
and ornamented, reminding one of the domestic 
Oriental work offered for sale in the Turkish 
bazaars of Cairo. The Chilcat blankets readily 
bring forty dollars apiece, and the best of them 
are sold for double that sum. They are ordinarily 
about six feet long by four broad, having in addi- 
tion a long, ornamental fringe at each end. The 
colors are black, white, yellow, and a dull blue, 
the coloring matter being also of native manufac- 
ture. These blankets used to be heirlooms in 
the aboriginal families before the cheap woolens 
of commerce were introduced among them, since 
when they have become annually more and more 
scarce, and are now purchased only by visitors to 
carry away as curiosities. Even at the highest 
price realized for them, if the maker's time were 
to be reckoned of any account, the sum is a sorry 
pittance for one of these blankets, which to prop- 
erly finish will employ six months of a woman's 
time. 

Pyramid Harbor, in latitude 59° 11' north, is 
the most northerly point reached by the excursion 
steamers on this part of the coast. The place 
takes its name from a prominent conical forma- 
tion upon an island within its borders. The clus- 
ter of houses, cabins, and the canning factory 
which make up what is known as Pyramid Har- 
bor are situated upon a broad plateau on a sandy 
beach, at the foot of a mountain which towers 
three thousand feet heavenward, covered with 
trees to its summit and beautified by a bright, 



PYRAMID HARBOR. 273 

dashing waterfall visible from near the apex to 
the bottom. This affords both a healthful water 
supply for domestic use and a motor for the fac- 
tory. The broad plateau, three or four miles in 
length and one wide, grass-grown, and covered with 
low shrubbery, is beautified by a floral display of 
great variety, including wild roses, sweet peas, 
columbines, white clover, and other varieties, hav- 
ing also an unlimited amount of berries. The 
wide mouth of the Chilcat River, which makes 
into the bay a mile from this settlement, is a 
swarming place for the salmon. The river is 
very shallow and not navigable for anything but 
native canoes. Twenty miles inland on its bank 
is a large, independent settlement of the Chilcat 
tribe. 

On the mountain side, nearly half way up, just 
back of the steamboat landing at Pyramid Har- 
bor, there is a small plateau not more than ten or 
fifteen feet square, entirely bare of timber, but 
closely surrounded by dense woods. This spot is 
quite inaccessible to human feet. A large cinna- 
mon bear shows himself here often during the day- 
time. A clear, sparkling stream of water comes 
from far above this place, rushing by one corner 
of it, and hither comes Bruin to slake his thirst. 
He knows very well that he is out of the hunter's 
reach, and he is actually beyond rifle range. He 
looks at that distance skyward no bigger than a 
good-sized Newfoundland dog, but to appear of 
such proportions to us so far below he must be a 
very monster. Several attempts have been made 



274 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

by the whites to get near enough to shoot him, but 
without success. The bear sat upon his haunches 
when we saw him and peered down upon us as 
we stood on the deck of the Corona with a 
cool insolence which must have been born of a 
consciousness of entire safety. By using a good 
glass his mammoth size became more apparent, 
showing that even when upon his haunches with 
his body erect he must have measured about six 
feet in height. 

A settlement opposite to Pyramid Harbor is 
known as Chilcat, where two large fish-canning 
establishments afford profitable occupation for 
quite a number of the residents, both natives 
and whites. New canning factories are being lo- 
cated in several places between Dixon Entrance 
and this point, the supply of salmon being abso- 
lutely unlimited ; the demand only is to be con- 
sidered. The quantity shipped from here annu- 
ally to San Francisco for distribution is enormous, 
almost beyond belief, and is steadily increasing. 
In addition to this profitable and important indus- 
try twelve thousand barrels of salted salmon were 
exported last year from Alaska to southern Pacific 
ports. The scenery about Pyramid Harbor is 
arctic : the precipitous cliffs are covered with snow 
on their tops, and range upon range of snowy 
mountains frame in the bay. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Glacier Bay. — More Ice Bays. — Majestic Front of the Muir 
Glacier. — The Bombardment of the Glacier. — One of the 
Grandest Sights in the World. — A Moving River of Ice. — 
The Natives. — Abundance of Fish. — Native Cooking. — 
Wild Berries. — Hooniah Tribe. — Copper Mines. — An Iron 
Mountain. — Coal Mines. 

From Pyramid Harbor we turn southward for a 
short distance, and then again towards the north, 
soon reaching the ice-strewn waters of Glacier 
Bay, an open expanse of ocean fully thirty miles 
long by from ten to twelve in width. This local- 
ity is thus named because of the number of gla- 
ciers which descend into it from the southern 
yerge of the frozen region. The still surface of 
the water reflects the Alpine scenery like bur- 
nished silver, only ruffled now and again by the 
icebergs launched from the majestic front of the 
Muir glacier, which fall with an explosion like the 
blasting of rocks in a stone quarry. It is curious 
to watch these enormous masses of ice rise to the 
surface after their first deep plunge, see them set- 
tle and rise again until their equilibrium becomes 
fixed, and then slowly float away with their impe- 
rial colors displayed, to join the fleet gone before. 
They seem to exhibit in their vivid colors a radiant 
joy at release from long imprisonment. It was a 
gloriously bright day on which we approached the 



276 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Muir glacier, the sun pouring down its wealth of 
light and warmth to temper the crisp morning air. 
A side-wheel steamer could not have made head- 
way among the hundreds of floating icebergs ; but 
the Corona wound in and out among them in 
safety, piloted by Captain Carroll's skillful direc- 
tion, occasionally leaving the color of her painted 
bull along their sides by chafing them. 

The ship was brought within fifty rods of the 
glacier's threatening front, which was about three 
hundred feet in height above the water, standing 
like a frozen Niagara, and the lead showed it to 
extend four hundred feet below the surface, mak- 
ing an aggregate of seven hundred feet from top 
to bottom. What a mighty power was hidden 
behind the dazzling drapery of its iridescent fa- 
cade! 

Standing upon its surface a short way inland, 
one could hear from its depths what seemed like 
shrieks and groans of maddened spirits torturing 
each other, as the huge mass was crowded more 
and more compactly between the two abutting 
mountains of rock through which it found its out- 
let. The roar of artillery upon a battlefield could 
hardly be more deafening or incessant than were 
the thrilling reports caused by the falling of vast 
masses of ice from the glacier's front. Nothing 
could be grander or more impressive than this 
steady bombardment from the ice mountain in its 
resistless progress towards the sea. Neither Nor- 
way nor Switzerland have any glacial or arctic 
scenery that can approach this bay in its frigid 



GLACIER BAY. 277 

splendor. No natives are to be seen ; not a sound 
falls upon the ear save the hoarse cannonading of 
the glacier. The white, ghostly hue of the sur- 
roundings are startling ; even the daylight assumes 
a certain weird, bluish tint, heightened by shim- 
mering reflections from the ice-chasms and crev- 
ices. 

The author, in a varied experience of many parts 
of the world, recalls but two other occasions which 
affected him so powerfully as this first visit to 
Glacier Bay in Alaska, namely : witnessing the 
sun rise over the vast Himalayan range, the roof- 
tree of the globe, at Darjeeling, in northern. In- 
dia, and the view of the midnight sun from the 
North Cape in Norway, as it hung over the Polar 
Sea. Our power of appreciation is limitless, 
though that of description is circumscribed. Here 
both are challenged to their utmost capacit}^. 
Words are insufficient ; pen and pencil inadequate 
to convey the grandeur and fascination of the 
scene. 

Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka tells us that a 
veteran traveler said to him as they stood together 
on the ship's deck regarding the scenery in this 
remarkable bay : " You can take just what you 
see here and put it down on Switzerland, and it 
will hide all there is of mountain scenery in Eu- 
rope. I have been all over the world, but you are . 
now looking at a scene that has not its parallel 
elsewhere on the globe." The estimate has been 
made by experienced persons that five thousand 
living glaciers, of greater or less dimensions, are 



278 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

now steadily traveling down towards the sea in 
this vast Territory of Alaska. 

Glacier Bay is always full of vagrant icebergs 
which are of blinding whiteness when under the 
glare of the midday sun. The variety of colors 
emitted by the bergs is charming to the eye, the 
prevailing hues being crystal-white mingled with 
azure blue, a faint touch of pink appearing here 
and there, together with dainty gleams of orange- 
yellow. Where a large smooth surface is pre- 
sented, the prismatic shimmering is like that of 
starlight upon the water. The variety in the 
shape of the bergs is infinite. Some of them ex- 
hibit singularly correct architectural lines, some 
resemble ruins of ancient castles on the Rhine, 
others, with a little help of the imagination, repre- 
sent wild animals in various attitudes, or hideous 
Chinese idols with open mouths and lolling 
tongues. Sea birds hover over and light in large 
numbers upon the opalescent masses. Ranging 
alongside of a tall berg, a fall and tackle was rigged 
out from the yard-arm of our steamer, while men 
were sent to cut large blocks of ice from the hill 
of frozen water. Two weighing nearly a ton each 
were hoisted on board to keep our larder cool and 
fill the ship's ice-chest. The ice was pure as crys- 
tal, and fresh as a mountain stream. 

" Why don't you go nearer to the glacier ? " 
asked one of the passengers of the captain. 

" Because I think we are quite near enough," 
was the quiet reply. 

" Those avalanches don't reach more than thirty 



AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE. 279 

or forty feet from the face of the ice cliff," con- 
tinued the passenger. 

" True," was the reply, " but they do not con- 
constitute the only discharges from the glacier." 

44 Why, where else can they occur but from the 
face," asked the inquirer. 

44 Shall I tell you a certain experience which 
I had near this very spot?" asked the captain. 

44 What was it ? " inquired a dozen eager voices. 

And then the captain told the group of listeners 
that when the Corona was here last season, laying 
just off the Muir glacier, those on board were 
startled by the sudden appearance of a huge mass 
of dark crystal, as large as the steamer itself, 
which shot up from the depths and tossed the 
ship as though it had been an egg-shell. Passen- 
gers were thrown hither and thither, and some 
were severely bruised. It was a berg broken off 
from the bottom of the ice mountain, four hun- 
dred feet below the surface of the water. Had it 
struck the ship in its upward passage, immediate 
destruction must have followed, and the steamer 
would have sunk as quickly as though she had 
been blown up with gunpowder. 

Mount Crillon, Mount La Perouse, and Mount 
Fairweatber are all visible from Glacier Bay, the 
latter rising in the northwest so high above the 
intervening hills that all its snowy pinnacles are 
clearly defined. 

The great glacier which forms the prominent 
feature of this bay was named after Professor 
Muir, state geologist of California. It has a front 



280 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

three miles wide, and has been explored to a dis- 
tance of forty miles inland. The top surface is 
tossed and broken by broad fissures so as to be 
impassable, unless one goes back at least a mile 
from its toppling and dangerous front. This 
glacier exceeds anything of the sort this side of 
the polar zone, and is fed by fifteen other glaciers, 
so far as it has been explored, towards its source 
among the lofty snow-fields. In walking upon its 
surface great care should be observed. A thin 
crust of snow and half-melted ice is often formed 
over fissures into which one may easily be precipi- 
tated. One of the party from the Corona, a lady, 
was thus engulfed for a moment, escaping, how- 
ever, with a thorough wetting and some slight 
bruises, together with a very large measure of 
fright. This lady was temporarily in charge of 
the pilot of the steamer, hence it was very gener- 
ally remarked that he was doubtless a good ship's 
pilot, but a poor one for navigating glaciers. 

From carefully conducted measurements it is 
known that this immense body — frost-bound, 
transparent, and resistless — is moving into the 
sea, during the summer months, at the rate of 
forty feet in every twenty -four hours, and dis- 
charging in that time one hundred and forty mil- 
lion cubic feet of ice into the bay. It is not nec- 
essary for us to discuss the cause of this regular, 
uniform movement of the enormous mass ; it may 
be brought about by either dilation or gravitation, 
both of which are most likely active agents to this 
end, but certain it is that the glacier moves for- 
ward as described. 



THE MUIR GLACIER. 281 

One could have passed days in studying the 
grandeur and beauty of the Muir glacier, in watch- 
ing its slow but steady advance, its tremendous 
avalanches, its rolling, thunder-like discharges, its 
irregular, translucent front decked with amethyst 
and opal hues by the afternoon sunlight, but time 
was to be considered, the day was closing, and we 
finally steamed reluctantly away. Even after we 
had lost sight of the great frozen river, we heard 
its evening guns echoing among the mountains, 
faint and fitful from the growing distance. 

We pause for a moment, thoughtfully, to recall 
the brief hours passed in that boreal atmosphere, 
crowded to repletion with wonderful experiences, 
where the ice deposited during the glacial period 
is slowly wasting and wearing away, exposing 
giant cedars which have been buried for ages 
upon ages, a revelation and a process which we 
may nowhere else behold. There is no touch of 
civilization here ; the quiet and solitude is un- 
broken, save by the thunder of the bergs break- 
ing their long imprisonment. Somehow one feels 
older, grayer, sadder, after witnessing these great 
and startling throes of Nature, phenomena which 
have been in operation thousands of years. It re- 
minds the observer only too forcibly how infini- 
tesimal is the space he occupies upon this planet, 
and how utterly insignificant is his personality in 
the vast scheme of the universe. Travel, while 
teaching us numberless grand and beautiful truths, 
solving many mysteries and vastly enlarging our 
mental grasp, does not fail also to impress upon 



282 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

the most conceited the important and priceless 
lesson of humility. But let us banish brooding 
thoughts, and be glad for a little space ; to-morrow 
the night cometh ! 

Among the evidences of the slow but steady 
receding of the glacier we have Vancouver's rec- 
ord that he was unable to enter this bay in 1793, 
which is now navigable for over twelve miles in- 
land. Once the ice field was level with the moun- 
tain tops, now it has melted until the peaks are 
far. above its surface. Professor Muir tells us that 
in the earlier days of the ice-age this glacier 
stood at a height of from three to four thousand 
feet above its present level ! Centuries hence the 
place of the glacier will doubtless be occupied by 
a flowing river, and the land will have entirely 
thrown aside its mantle of ice and snow. What 
a revelation this bay would have been to Agassiz ! 
After an arduous half day's climb, from the sum- 
mit of the Muir glacier nearly thirty others are 
to be seen in various directions, all steadily for- 
cing their resistless way towards the sea, slowly 
consummating the purpose of their existence. 
How far glacial action has been concerned in 
determining the topographical conditions of the 
globe will long be, as it has long been, a subject 
for deep scientific study. 

At first thought it seems impossible that a sub- 
stance like ice, often brittle as glass and as inelas- 
tic as granite, can move as though it were fluid. 
The motion of the giant mass is doubtless facili- 
tated by subglacial streams issuing from its bot- 



A LAND OF WONDERS. 283 

torn into the bay. The water flowing from two 
sources of this character manifests itself at the 
surface on each corner of the ice-front, where it 
comes bubbling up with great force from the bot- 
tom, a distance of from sixty to eighty fathoms. 
As we lay in front of the grand facade what a 
revelry of color was spread before us ! The im- 
mense and towering wall of ice seemed to throb 
with the softening rays of the sun, penetrating 
each broad fissure and narrow rift, all luminous 
with blue and gold. 

Scidmore Island was pointed out to us, a green 
hilly land, near the mouth of the bay, named 
after Mrs. E. R. Scidmore, who has written so ad- 
mirably about Alaska. Another island was des- 
ignated whereon a silver mine of great promise 
has lately been successfully located and tested, 
yielding results surpassing the most sanguine an- 
ticipations of the owners. 

All through this region one is constantly im- 
pressed with a sense of vastness, everything seems 
so stupenduous ; Nature is cast in a larger mould 
than she is in other sections of the world. The 
islands strike one as continental in dimensions, 
the rivers are among the largest on the globe, the 
ocean channels are the deepest, the primeval for- 
ests are made up of giant trees and cover thou- 
sands of square miles, the mountains are colossal, 
and the glaciers are elsewhere unequaled. It is 
a land of wonders, strange, fascinating, and beau- 
tiful. 

The natives of this latitude are robust and 



284 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

hearty in appearance, their regular food supply 
being such as to sustain them in a good physi- 
cal condition. Seal and fish oil are cheap and 
abundant, and enter into all of their cooking com- 
binations. During the ripening season the wild 
berries, which are remarkably abundant, are gath- 
ered by the bushel, giving employment to the 
youthful portion of the community. Large quan- 
tities are dried for winter use, but during the 
bearing season the people almost live upon them, 
always adding a portion of oil as a condiment. 
Game, such as deer, bears, mountain goats, and 
wild geese, is very plenty a little way inland. 
These are hunted and supplied to the whites by 
the aborigines, but they do not themselves seem 
to care particularly for meat of any sort so long as 
they can obtain plenty of fish and oil. At Sitka 
and Fort Wrangel fine large codfish are retailed 
at five cents each, a twenty pound salmon costs in 
the season ten to fifteen cents, and halibut sell at 
about the same rate according to size. These lat- 
ter average from eighty to a hundred pounds in 
weight on this coast, and jn some parts of the 
waters bordering western Alaska they are twice 
that size. Ducks are to be had at ten and fifteen 
cents per pair, wild geese at fifteen cents each, 
and so on. The natives are preeminently fish-eat- 
ers, and are as a rule well developed about the 
chest and shoulders, though the lower parts of 
their bodies are diminutive owing to their exer- 
cise being taken almost altogether at the paddle 
while sitting in their boats. The physical con- 



HALIBUT FISHING. 285 

• 
trast between them and our Western Indians, who 
are meat-eaters, is very decided. The one lives 
in a canoe a large portion of his time, the other 
upon horseback or engaged upon long foot- 
marches ; the one is lithe and sinewy, the other 
is greasy and flabby. Though the physical con- 
dition of our Western Indians is unquestionably 
much superior to that of the native Alaskans, yet 
the latter are the most intelligent. 

The halibut, to which reference has just been 
made, is found in great abundance upon the coast 
at nearly all seasons of the year, and forms a 
large portion of the food supply of the native 
population, both for summer and winter. They 
prefer to catch these fish by means of their own 
awkward wooden hooks, rather than to use the 
steel barbed instrument of the whites. They go 
out for the purpose in their boats, exposing them- 
selves in nearly all sorts of weather, anchoring 
upon well-known fishing grounds by making use 
of a stone fastened to a cedar-bark rope of their 
own manufacture. Having filled their canoe, 
which they can do in a very short time, they 
leisurely return to the shore, where the fish are 
turned over to the care of the women, who soon 
clean them, also removing the large bones, head, 
fins, and tails, after which they cut the bodies 
into broad thin slices, and doing so much of this 
business they become very expert. These slices 
of the halibut are hung on wooden frames, where 
they rapidly dry in the wind and sun, no salt 
being used in the process; indeed, the natives 



286 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

seem to have no use for salt so far as their own 
food is concerned, and do not eat it as a seasoning. 
After the halibut is thus cured, the pieces are 
packed away in the large cedar box which forms 
each family's storehouse for such food, and when 
wanted it is always ready, requiring but little 
further treatment to make it palatable to native 
Alaskan taste. As thus preserved the fish will 
now and again become putrid. This, however, is 
not considered by the people to detract in any 
degree from its excellence and usefulness, but 
rather to add zest to the flavor, just as a highly 
civilized gourmand requires his birds to be kept 
until they become a little "gamey " before he 
considers them fit to serve to himself or his guests. 
At certain seasons of the year the salmon are 
eagerly sought and eaten, both fresh and dried, 
but as intimated the halibut is a fish which can 
be caught at nearly any time, and is therefore 
perhaps more used than any other. There are 
periods when these fish also leave the coast for a 
short season, and against this absence the native 
provides as we have described. The kind of 
salmon which is mostly canned and prepared for 
export in barrels from Alaska is of a pink species, 
which is chosen, not because it possesses any pe- 
culiar excellence of flavor, but because the color 
is generally thought to be more desirable. They 
are not considered here, either by the whites or 
the natives, to be of quite so good quality as some 
others which abound in this region, but it is the 
pink salmon which the fanciful public demand, 
and pink salmon which they get. 



ALASKAN CO OKER Y. 287 

All the cooking these natives seem to know 
anything about is to boil or stew such food as 
they do not consume nearly raw. Iron kettles 
have been in their possession for many genera- 
tions, and were originally procured from the 
Russians. The condiment which they most affect 
has already been referred to, being nothing more 
nor less than rancid fish or seal oil, cooled and 
hardened into a sort of oleomargarine, the bare 
smell of which is sickening to the nostrils of a 
white person. This grease is spread liberally upon 
all their food and eaten with manifest relish. The 
inner bark of the spruce and hemlock trees is 
collected by the women in considerable quantities 
at certain seasons of the year, and is eaten by 
them, both in the green and dried state, after 
being dipped in this grease as described. The 
Sitka Indians make a most atrocious salad of sea- 
weed mixed with seal-oil, sometimes adding the roe 
of herring, of which peculiar mixture they partake 
with ravenous appetites, the roe having been pur- 
posely kept until it is nearly or quite putrid. The 
salmon-berry, while it is in season, is a most wel- 
come and wholesome addition to their rather cir- 
cumscribed larder. This berry is a sort of cross 
between a strawberry and a blackberry, though 
it is larger than the average of these delicious 
berries as they grow in the woods of New Eng- 
land. Hundreds of barrels of the native cran- 
berry are gathered by the aborigines and shipped 
annually from here to San Francisco ; they are 
smaller than the cultivated berry bearing the 



288 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

same name, which is grown in our Eastern States. 
The wild strawberries found among these islands 
and on the mainland excel in flavor the highly 
cultivated berry of our thickly-settled States, and 
may be found growing in abundance in the very 
shadow of the glaciers. 

The natives hereabouts have no domestic ani- 
mals except a multitude of dogs of a mongrel 
breed ; wolfish-looking creatures ; which are of no 
possible use, dozing all day and howling all night. 
At the north the regularly bred Eskimo dog is a 
very different animal, quite indispensable to his 
master, and invaluable in connection with sledge 
traveling. 

The tribe occupying the region near to Glacier 
Bay is known as the Hooniahs, an ingenious 
and industrious people, who manufacture brace- 
lets, spoons, and various ornaments out of silver 
and copper. Some of the men of this tribe wear 
a ring in their noses, like the women, but this 
seems to be going slowly out of fashion. We were 
told that the men have as many wives as they 
choose to take, and that they are not always care- 
ful to properly discriminate between other men's 
and their own, an act of dereliction from pro- 
priety which is, however, by no means confined to 
savage life. A great laxity in morals is also said 
to prevail among most of the tribes from Behring 
Strait southward to the Aleutian group of islands. 
Let us not, however, be too censorious in judging 
them ; if their virtues are found to be in the 
minority, is not this also the case with most com- 



MINERAL DEPOSITS. 289 

munities which boast the elevating advantages of 
culture and civilization ? 

It has been known for a century more or less 
that masses of pure copper were found by the abo- 
rigines along the course of Copper River, which 
flows into the Pacific Ocean midway between Mount 
St. Elias and the peninsula of Kenai. The natives 
exhibited one mass of pure copper, as naturally de- 
posited, weighing over sixty pounds. The char- 
acter of this mineral closely resembles that of our 
Lake Superior district, and there is every indica- 
tion of its abundance in this region, not alone on 
Copper River, but in several districts and islands. 
The natives have utilized the article for many 
generations in the manufacture of personal orna- 
ments, and for making various useful household 
utensils, such as stewpans and small kettles. Any 
permanent rise in the market value of copper 
would stimulate the development of the copper 
mines of Alaska to compete with other portions of 
our country. Petroleum is also found on Copper 
River, forcing itself to the surface from some un- 
derground reservoir, and again near the Bay of 
Katmai. This product was largely used by the 
Russians for lubricating purposes. 

Professor Davidson discovered in this vicinity 
an iron mountain some two thousand feet high, 
which was so full of magnetic ore as to seriously 
affect his calculations and derange his compass. 
Mr. Seward said of the same vicinity : " I found 
there not a single iron mountain, but a whole 
range of hills the very dust of which adhered to 



290 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

the magnet." There is plenty of coal also, and 
with these two articles in juxtaposition a great in- 
dustry may ultimately be the outgrowth. Viewed 
as a sure foundation of commercial and manufac- 
turing prosperity, coal and iron will prove, in the 
long run, to be worth nearly as much to Alaska 
as her abundant and inexhaustible gold supply. 

Captain J. W. White of the United States reve- 
nue marine says: "I have seen coal veins over an 
area of forty or fifty square miles so thick that it 
seemed to me to be one vast bed. It is of an excel- 
lent steam-producing quality, having a clear white 
ash. The quantity seemed to be unlimited. This 
bed lies northwest of Sitka, up Cook's Inlet which 
broadens into a sea in some places." Nature has 
provided fuel in limitless quantities for this great 
Territory, both in the form of coal and of wood, 
each of which is of the most available character, 
both as regards the quality and the convenience 
of location. 

In speaking of the rich and varied prospects 
of the country, let us not forget to mention the 
abundance of pure white, statuary marble, which 
exists here in immense quarries, near the site of 
which there are numerous safe and commodious 
harbors, with great depth of water, inviting the 
commerce of the world. We need not send to 
Italy for a fine article in this line ; the choicest prod- 
uct for statuary purposes is here upon our own 
soil. While these sheets are going through the 
press, the fact that a valuable quicksilver mine, 
which was discovered at Kuskoquin some years 



EFFORTS TO DEPRECIATE ALASKA. 291 

ago, now proves to be of high grade and purity, 
is published to the world at large. If so, this is 
extremely providential, as there is now a constant 
demand for mercury in the treatment of the gold- 
bearing quartz of the numerous mines herea- 
bouts. 

The studied effort of certain writers to depreci- 
ate the value of the Territory of Alaska in nearly 
every possible respect seems very singular to us, 
and is altogether too obvious to carry conviction 
with it. The great amount of gold now being 
realized every month of the year, the millions of 
cured salmon and cod annually exported to other 
sections, together with the rich furs regularly 
shipped from the Territory, counted by hundreds 
of thousands, must cause such people a degree of 
mortification. One of these writers put himself 
on record by saying not long since that gold did 
not exist in the Territory in paying quantities. 
Yet there is a standing offer of sixteen million 
dollars for the Treadwell gold mine on Douglas 
Island, while within eight or ten miles of it, at 
Silver Bow Basin, on the mainland, is another 
gold mine, as has been shown, owned and worked 
by a Boston company, nearly as valuable. 

Referring to this auriferous deposit on Doug- 
las Island, Governor Swineford says, in his offi- 
cial report to the government for the year 1887 : 
"It is without doubt the largest body of gold- 
bearing quartz ever developed in this or any 
other country." 

At last we prepare to turn our backs upon the 



292 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

home of the glaciers and the locality of the most 
remarkable gold deposits of the Northwest, sur- 
feited with wonders, and actually longing for the 
sight of something intensely common, satisfied 
that the tourist who makes the voyage from Ta- 
coma to Glacier Bay through the inland sea has 
the opportunity of beholding some of the grandest 
scenery and natural phenomena on the globe. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Sailing Southward. — Sitka, Capital of Alaska. — Transfer of the 
Territory from Russia to America. — Site of the City. — The 
Old Castle. — Russian Habits. — A Haunted Chamber. — 
Russian Elegance and Hospitality. — The Old Greek Church. 
— Rainfall at Sitka. — The Japanese Current. — Abundance 
of Food. — Plenty of Vegetables. — A Fine Harbor. 

From Glacier Bay our serpentine course lies 
southward through the countless sounds, gulfs, 
and islands of various shapes and sizes to Sitka, 
the New Archangel of the Russians, Sitka being 
the aboriginal name of the bay on which the town 
is situated. This is the most northerly commer- 
cial port on the Pacific coast, and lies at the base 
of Mount Vestova on the west side of Baranoff 
Island. The island is eighty-five miles long by 
twenty broad, situated thirteen hundred miles 
north of San Francisco. 

On the 18th of October, in the year 1867, 
three United States men-of-war lay in the harbor, 
namely, the Ossipee, the Jamestown, and the 
Resaca. It was a memorable occasion, for on 
that day the Muscovite flag was formally hauled 
down and the Stars and Stripes were run up on 
the flagstaff of the castle amid a salvo of guns 
from the ships of both nations, thus completing 
the official transfer of the great Territory of 
Alaska from Russian to American possession. 



294 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Up to tins time the government of the country- 
had been virtually under the control of the rich 
fur company chartered by the Tzar. Any policy 
at variance with its purposes was treason ; immi- 
gration, except for its employees, was rigorously 
discouraged ; the imperial governor was actually 
salaried by this great monopoly, while his public 
acts were subject to its approval or otherwise. 
With the date above given this condition of af- 
fairs ceased and a new regime began. Though 
no radical change immediately took place, still 
the atmosphere of our Union gradually permeated 
these regions, our flag freely floated everywhere, 
and our few officials assumed their responsibilities, 
administering the laws of the Republic mercifully 
as regarded the natives, but still with that degree 
of firmness which is imperative in dealing with a 
half-civilized race. 

One cannot but conjecture what must have 
been the secret thoughts of the thousands of abo- 
rigines on this occasion, as they witnessed the cer- 
emony of transferring Alaska from their former 
to their new masters. It was an event of im- 
mense interest, of most vital import to them, but 
yet one in which they were entirely ignored. 
They knew the significance of that change of 
flags, of that roar of artillery, emphasized by other 
naval and military movements, but they had no 
voice whatever in the agreement by which they 
were virtually bought and sold like so many head 
of cattle, and their native land bartered for gold. 
We leave the reader to moralize over this aspect 



SITKA. 295 

of the matter, a fruitful theme for the political 
economist. With this change of government 
came a new people ; the majority of the Russians 
promptly left the country, and their places were 
taken by Americans. 

Sitka, the capital of the Territory, is sheltered 
by a snow-crowned mountain range on one side, 
and protected from the broad expanse of the Pa- 
cific on the other by a group of many thickly 
wooded islands. The waters of the harbor are as 
clear as a mountain stream, so that, as in sailing 
over the Bahama Banks, one can see the bottom 
many fathoms down with perfect distinctness, 
where the myriad curiosities of submarine life at- 
tract the eye by their novel and varied display. 
Among other tropical growth, sponges, coral 
branches, and long rope-like algaa are seen, planted 
here doubtless by the equatorial current which so 
constantly laves these shores. The town lies clus- 
tered near the shore, forming a pleasing picture as 
one approaches from the sea. The most promi- 
nent feature is the castle, not a battlemented, ivy- 
covered, mediaeval structure, but a severely plain, 
weather-beaten, moss-grown, dilapidated affair, 
which crowns a rocky elevation of the town. It 
is a hundred and fort}' feet long by seventy deep, 
constructed of huge cedar logs which are securely 
riveted to the rock by numerous clamps and bolts. 
This was for many years the grand residence of 
the Russian governors, — after the capital was re- 
moved from St. Paul, on the island of Kodiak, — 
several of whom were of the Muscovite nobility 



296 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

and brought hither their wives and daughters to 
live with them in this isolated spot. One can 
hardly conceive of a greater social contrast than 
naturally existed between St. Petersburg and this 
half savage hamlet of Baranoff Island. For deli- 
cate and refined ladies, such a change from court 
life must have been little less of a hardship than 
actual banishment to dreaded Siberia. 

It is not surprising that resort was had to rather 
desperate means whereby to beguile the weary 
hours. Many fell victims to gambling and strong 
drink. The Russians, under nearly any circum- 
stances, fail to be good examples of temperance, 
and here cognac and vodhka flowed free as water. 
To some of their official feasts and celebrations 
the native chiefs were invited, and terribly demor- 
alized by the potency of the viands to which they 
were totally unaccustomed. Nor can it be won- 
dered at that, being occasionally supplied with this 
fire-water, the natives now and again broke out 
in open revolt, which ended more or less seriously 
both to the Russians and themselves. It will be 
remembered that once during the early times the 
natives rose in a body and massacred or drove 
every foreigner off the island, an act of savage pa- 
triotism which cost them dearly. 

Every " castle " must have at least one haunted 
chamber, and we are told that this of Sitka was 
no exception to the general rule. The story con- 
cerning the same is variously told by different per- 
sons, but we will give only the version we heard. 
It seems that half a century and more since, the 



A SITKAN TRAGEDY. 297 

Russian governor's family included a beautiful and 
accomplished daughter named Eruzoff, who was, 
at the time the event occurred which we are about 
to relate, but twenty years of age. There were 
on her father's official staff two young noblemen 
of St. Petersburg, Nicholas and Michael Burdoff, 
about twenty-five years of age respectively. They 
were cousins, and had been ardent and intimate 
friends from childhood. Both of the cousins fell 
deeply in love with the governor's daughter, who, 
in her delicacy, showed no preference between 
them. The young men grew desperate in their 
feelings. Never before had they disagreed about 
the simplest matter ; it was their delight to yield 
to each other ; but now their love for the beauti- 
ful Eruzoff made them open rivals. One day they 
went into the neighboring forest together, as they 
said, to hunt, and were absent for two days. On 
the evening of the second day Michael returned 
unaccompanied by his cousin, whom he said he 
had lost in the forest. He retired at once to 
his own room in the castle, where he was found 
dead in bed on the following morning, without a 
wound or any sign to explain the cause, though 
the post surgeon pronounced it to be a case of 
heart disease. A few days afterwards, by means 
of his favorite dog, the body of Nicholas was dis- 
covered in the forest with a bullet through his 
brain. The actual truth regarding the death of 
the cousins cannot be known on earth, but the 
chamber where Michael Burdoff breathed his last 
is said to be often disturbed by a ghostly visitor 



298 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

at midnight. Eruzoff was forced by her father to 
marry an official of his choice, though she was 
broken-hearted at the loss of Michael Burdoff , who 
proved to have been the one whom she loved best. 
She died in her bridal year. 

Interesting stories are told of the grand hospi- 
tality — characteristic of the Russians — which 
was so liberally dispensed within this castle, in 
entertaining celebrated voyagers of various coun- 
tries, and especially those of the United States. 
It has always been the policy of the Tzars to cul- 
tivate kindly feelings with our government, and 
Russia is still our constant friend. The upper 
part of the old castle was arranged for theatrical 
representations, while in the other apartments the 
nights were rendered merry with cards, dancing, 
and music. Rich furniture, valuable paintings, 
and costly plate had been brought all the way 
from Russia to equip this grand household among 
a savage race. The toilets of the ladies were 
perhaps a twelvemonth behind those of St. 
Petersburg, but their diamonds and laces were 
never out of fashion. Elegant chandeliers were 
left by these former masters of the castle, which 
show what the rest of the furniture must have 
been to have harmonized with such gorgeous 
ornaments. The visitor is shown the apartment 
occupied by the venerable Lady Franklin at eight}'' 
years of age, who came hither in search for her 
lost husband, the Arctic explorer. 

The quaint old Greek Church with the sharp 
peak of Vestova as a background is a prominent 



CIVILIZING INFLUENCES. 299 

and interesting edifice. Its emerald-green dome 
and Byzantine spire, after the home fashion of 
the Russians, together with its elaborately em- 
bellished interior and its ancient chime of bells, 
strongly individualize the structure. Some pic- 
tures of more than ordinary merit are to be seen 
within its walls. One representing the Madonna 
and Child is pronounced to be very valuable. It 
is kept in perfect condition by the government of 
St. Petersburg, which is the sole owner of all the 
churches of the empire, at home and abroad. 
The Tzar expends more money for church and 
missionary purposes in Alaska to-day than all 
the Christian sects of our country combined. For 
the three churches in Sitka, Kodiak, and Unalaska 
the sum of fifty thousand dollars annually is set 
aside and appropriated. Nevertheless, we believe 
the Training School at Sitka exercises a much 
higher civilizing influence, where the simplest 
Christian principles are taught, combined with 
common school studies, and where instruction is 
given in the daily industries of life. All concede 
that education and general intelligence are the 
mainsprings of our system of government, and that 
the perpetuity of its institutions depends thereon. 
In view of these indisputable facts let our rulers 
at Washington bestow liberally from out the 
plethoric national treasury for educational pur- 
poses in Alaska. 

Most of the houses of Sitka are heavy log 
dwellings, some of which are clapboarded outside 
and smoothly finished within. In the winter 



300 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

season about a thousand Indians live here, the 
white population being composed of the usual 
government officials and agents, with a few store- 
keepers engaged in the fur traffic and general 
trade with the aborigines. Four or five hundred 
miners and prospectors gather here also in the 
winter, when it becomes too cold to prosecute 
their calling far inland, where the thermometer 
often falls to 20° below zero. Even this occasional 
extreme could be easily endured, and the work be 
little retarded, were suitable quarters provided. 
In midwinter daylight continues at Sitka for only 
six hours in the twenty-four, though by the first 
of June there is virtually no night at all ; the 
stars take a vacation, while the evening and the 
morning twilight merge into day. 

The author had thought, heretofore, that the 
rainfall at Bergen, on the coast of Norway, ex- 
ceeded that of any other spot he had visited, but 
here at Sitka " the rain, it raineth every day." 
We have seen it rain harder in the tropics, but 
not often. The brief downpour, however, is so 
quickly followed by a flood of delicious sunshine 
that the contrast is a charming revelation. Still 
another effect is observable that, as rainy as it is, 
at certain seasons the atmosphere is still peculiarly 
dry. The writer was told that clothes would 
quickly dry under a shed during the heaviest rains. 
The fair weather is most likely to occur during the 
excursion season, so that the stranger is not apt to 
meet much annoyance in this respect while at the 
capital. The annual rainfall is recorded as being 



THE JAPANESE CURRENT. 301 

ninety inches upon this island, a degree of humid- 
ity which is attributed to the heated waters of the 
equatorial regions, which warm the whole coast- 
line of southern Alaska, insuring the mild win- 
ters it enjoys. 

Scientists tell us that the effect of this warm 
current is equivalent to twenty degrees of latitude, 
that is to say, the same products which are found 
in latitude 40° north on the Atlantic coast thrive 
in this region at 60° north, which is a little higher 
than the latitude of Sitka. This beneficent stream, 
arising off the coast of southern California, crosses 
the Pacific south of the Sandwich Islands, and on 
the coast of Asia turns northward in a grand 
sweep, striking the shores of America, and return- 
ing finally to its starting-point. " It is this," says 
H. H. Bancroft, in his " History of the Pacific 
States," " that clothes temperate isles in tropical 
verdure, makes the silkworm flourish far north of 
its rightful home, and sends joy to the heart of 
the hyperborean, even to him upon the Strait of 
Behring, and almost to the Arctic Sea." 

The abundant moisture causes all vegetation to 
grow most luxuriantly. " The enemies of this re- 
gion, some of whom," said an official to us, " have 
been paid for sinister purposes to write it down, 
declare that it cannot be made to support a popu- 
lation, as vegetables will not grow here, but vege- 
tables have been successfully grown all about us 
for more than fifty years." There are a plenty of 
domestic cattle at Sitka, where we partook of as 
sweet and rich milk as can be produced on our 



302 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

choice dairy farms at the East. The southern 
portions of the Territory, both the islands and the 
mainland, are better adapted to support a civilized 
white population than are the larger portions of 
Norway and Sweden. It may be doubted if there 
is anything finer in color than the June greenery 
of Sitka. Our first day at this unique capital had 
been varied by alternate rain and sunshine, but 
the closing hours of the day were clear and beau- 
tiful, emphasized by such a grand and brilliant 
sunset as is rarely excelled, the afterglow and 
mellow twilight lasting until nearly midnight, 
causing the turban of snow upon the head of 
Mount Edgecombe to look like Etruscan gold. 

John G. Brady, United States commissioner at 
Sitka, writes from there as follows : " Though 
Alaska is no agricultural country, yet there is 
plenty of land for growing vegetables for a vast 
population which can be easily cleared and culti- 
vated. The food of this coast is assured unless 
the Pacific current changes and rain ceases. Per- 
haps there is not another spot on the globe where 
the same number of people do so little manual 
labor and are so well fed as in Sitka." The ca- 
pacity of the island to produce a large variety of 
garden vegetables, and of good quality, is abun- 
dantly demonstrated by a resident who gains a 
successful livelihood through the sale of these 
products grown on his own land. 

The bay is very lovely and naturally recalls 
that of Naples, with its neighboring Vestova and 
its beautiful islands. Though Mount Edgecombe 



SITKA HARBOR. 303 

with its great truncated cone, situated fifteen miles 
away upon Kruzoff Island, is not now in active 
condition, a century ago, more or less, it poured 
forth lava, fire, and smoke enough to rival the 
Italian volcano which buried Pompeii in its fatal 
debris nearly two thousand years ago. We were 
told that smoke and sulphurous vapor occasionally 
issue from the old crater of Edgecombe, but saw 
no distinct evidence of the fact. As we looked 
at the sleeping giant we wondered if it will one 
day awake in its Plutonic power. The bay is 
said to contain over one hundred islands, which 
are mostly covered with a noble growth of trees, 
rendered picturesque and lovely by green sloping 
banks and shores fringed with golden-russet sea- 
weed, bearing long, banana like leaves. Many of 
these islands are occupied, some by whites, some 
by Indians. Japan Island, so-called, is the largest 
in the bay, and is situated just opposite the town. 
It was once improved by the Russians as an ob- 
servatory, and now contains some fine gardens cul- 
tivated both by whites and natives, from whence 
the citizens obtain their supply of fresh vegetables. 
Baranoff Island itself is mountainous and thickly 
wooded, though there are large arable spots dis- 
tributed here and there near to Sitka, dotted with 
wild flowers in white and gold, — Flora's favorite 
colors in this latitude. Never, save in equatorial 
regions, has the author seen vegetation more lux- 
uriant than it is in its native condition in these 
islands of southern Alaska. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Contrast between American and Russian Sitka. — A Practical 
Missionary. — The Sitka Industrial School. — Gold Mines on 
the Island. — Environs of the Town. — Future Prosperity of 
the Country. — Hot Springs. — Native Religious Ideas. — A 
Natural Taste for Music. — A Native Brass Band. — Final 
View of the Capital. 

The Sitka of to-day contains about two thou- 
sand inhabitants, but is a very different place from 
that which the Russians made of it. The subjects 
of the Tzar carried on shipbuilding, manufactured 
wooden and iron ware, erected an iron furnace and 
smelted native ore, made steel knives and agri- 
cultural tools, axes, hatches, and carpenters' tools 
generally. They established a bell foundry here 
at which many bells and chimes were cast, and 
shipped the products all along the Pacific coast, 
especially to Mexico. The Greek Church was 
kept up to the highest standard as regarded the 
national forms, and employed nearly a score of 
priests, which, together with some forty or fifty 
civil officers attached to the governor's household 
staff, made a considerable community of white 
citizens, which was a constant scene of business 
activity. The capital has, in some respects at 
least, been greatly improved since it came into our 
possession, but it bears unmistakable evidences of 
antiquity. It has been made neat and clean, which 



A PRACTICAL MISSIONARY. 305 

was certainly not a characteristic under its former 
management, the streets have been regularly laid 
out, and good sidewalks have taken the place of 
muddy pathways, while some well - constructed 
roads leading through the neighborhood have been 
perfected. Though there is not seemingly so 
much of local business going on as there used to 
be, still it is a far more wholesome and pleasant 
place to live in than it was in the days of Mus- 
covite possession. In Mrs. E. S. Willard's pub- 
lished letters from Alaska we learn how an officer 
of our navy, namely, Captain Henry Glass of the 
United States steamer Jamestown, in 1881, proved 
to be the right sort of missionary to send on spe- 
cial duty to Sitka. 

" His first move," says this lady, " was to abolish 
hoochinoo. He made it a crime to sell, buy, or 
drink it, or any intoxicating drinks. He pre- 
vailed upon the traders to sell no molasses to 
the Indians in quantities, so that they could not 
make this drink. He issued orders in regard to 
clearing up the native ranches, which were fil- 
thy in the extreme, and had been the scene of 
nightly horrors of almost every description. He 
appointed a police force from the Indians them- 
selves, dressed them in navy cloth with ' James- 
town ' in gilt letters on their caps, and a silver 
star on their breasts. He made education com- 
pulsory. The houses were all numbered and the 
children of each house, each child being given a 
little round tin plate on which was marked his 
number and the number of his house. These 



306 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

plates were worn on a string about the neck. As 
the children arrived in school they were regis- 
tered. Whoever failed to send their children were 
fined one blanket. As soon as they discovered 
that the captain was in earnest they submitted, 
and I believe no blanket was forfeited after the 
first week. The ranches have been cleaned, white- 
washed, and drained, and all is peaceful and quiet 
where a few months ago it was a place of strife." 

The Sitka Industrial School — or as it is better 
known here, the Jackson Institution — is the most 
interesting feature of the town, because one can- 
not fail to realize how much good it is accomplish- 
ing in the way of practical civilization and real 
education among the natives. At this writing 
there are nearly one hundred boys, and about 
sixty girls and young women, who are under the 
parental care of the Institution. The teaching 
force consists of a dozen earnest workers, mostly 
ladies from the Eastern States. Besides the or- 
dinary English branches taught in the school, the 
girls are trained to cook, wash, iron, sew, knit, 
and to make their own clothes. The boys are 
taught carpentry, house - building, cabinet-mak- 
ing, blacksmithing, boat-building, shoemaking, 
and other industries. The work of the school is 
so arranged that each boy and girl attends school 
half a day, and works half a day. The results 
thus brought about are admirable. The " Mis- 
sion," as the cluster of buildings forming the 
school, the hospital, the residence for teachers, cot- 
tages, and workshops is called, is situated beside 



INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. 307 

the road leading to Indian River, overlooking the 
bay, the islands, and the sea, with grand mountain 
views on three sides. Fifteen different tribes are 
represented in this Sitka Industrial School. Eng- 
lish-speaking young natives who have been trained 
here readily obtain good wages at the mines, in 
the fish-canneries, and wherever they apply for 
employment among the white residents of the 
Territory, while their influence with their tribes 
is very great. That the Alaskans are teachable 
and capable of attaining a higher and better 
plane of life has been abundantly proven by the 
successful mission of this school during the few 
years of its existence. 

There is a small monthly newspaper published 
at Sitka in the interest of the Training School 
called '* The North Star." It is inexpensively 
produced, and is calculated to disseminate infor- 
mation in behalf of the excellent mission, as well 
as to add interest to its local affairs. The type- 
setting and all the work on this little paper is 
done by native bo} T s. In his last published report 
Dr. Sheldon Jackson says in relation to the Alas- 
kan natives : " Christianize them, give them a 
fair school education and the means of earning a 
living, and they are safe ; but without this the 
race is doomed. We believe in the gospel of ha- 
bitual industry for the adults, and of industrial 
training for the children. By these means they 
can be reclaimed from improvident habits, and 
transformed into ambitious and self-helpful citi- 



308 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

The Industrial Training School at Sitka was 
established as a day school by the Presbyterian 
Board of Home Missions in 1880, with Miss Olinda 
A. Austin as teacher. The following fall circum- 
stances led to the opening of a boarding depart- 
ment. Since then the institution has grown until 
there are connected with it two large buildings 
(one for boys and the other for girls), an industrial 
building sheltering the carpenter and boot and 
shoe shops, the printing-office and boat house, a 
small blacksmith shop, a steam laundry, a bakery, 
a hospital, and six small model cottages. Every 
building has been constructed by the pupils them- 
selves under the direction of the one carpenter, 
who acted as their instructor. Even the domestic 
furniture, such as beds, chairs, bureaus, and the 
like, is the handiwork of these native boys. We 
can testify from personal observation that all is 
wonderfully well done, and of excellent patterns. 

There is a valuable gold mine situated six or 
eight miles southeast of Sitka, eight hundred 
feet above the sea level and about a mile from 
deep water, on Silver Bay, where the largest 
ships may lie beside the shore, the wharfage hav- 
ing been prepared by Nature's own hand. The 
quartz rock is here represented to be of excellent 
quality, showing thirty dollars to the average ton, 
and there is never-failing water near at hand suf- 
ficient for running a hundred stamp-mill. Gold 
has been mined at Silver Bay in a primitive way 
for several years. Numerous other mines have 
been located and opened on Baranoff Island which 



ARRIVAL OF AN EXCURSION STEAMER. 309 

give great promise, but this just mentioned has 
accomplished thus far the best results. We took 
notes of eleven mines upon which much work 
had been done, shafts sunken, and tunnels run. 
" The island is besprinkled with these gold-quartz 
veins," said an intelligent citizen to us. " Pros- 
pectors and miners have been attracted elsewhere 
in the Territory by still more promising gold de- 
posits. This, together with the want of capital, 
is the reason the mines have not been opened and 
worked on an extensive scale. This will follow, 
however, in due time, for miners can work here 
all the year round, with comfort as regards the 
weather, and at the minimum cost of living." 

The arrival of an excursion steamer at Sitka is 
made the occasion of a regular holiday, which is 
very natural with a people who live in so isolated 
a place. As the steamer enters the several har- 
bors of the inland passage northward, her pres- 
ence is announced by a report from the cannon on 
the forecastle, which awakens a score of sonorous 
echoes from the rocky cliffs and nearest mountains, 
also serving to arouse the sleepy natives and put 
the dealers in curios on the qui vive. The few 
cafe's do a thriving business ; the nights, never 
very dark in summer, are turned into day, and 
hours of revelry prevail. The aboriginal women 
drive a lively business with their home-made cu- 
rios, and indiscreet native girls promenade freely 
with strangers. Peccadilloes are overlooked ; no 
one seems to be held strictly to account. The offi- 
cials are unusually lenient on such occasions, just 



310 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

as they are in Boston or New York on the Fourth 
of July. 

The immediate environs of Sitka present many 
rural beauties, including river, forest, and wild 
flowers, with here and there a rapid, musical cas- 
cade. The same species of highly-developed white 
clover as was seen at Fort Wrangel is a charming 
feature here, fragrant and lovel} 7 , — " Beautiful 
objects of the wild bees' love." Buttercups and 
dandelions are twice the size of those which we 
have in New England. Ferns are in great variety, 
and the mosses are exquisite in their velvety tex- 
ture, while tenderly shrouding the fallen and de- 
caying trees they present an endless variety of 
shades in green. There are over three hundred 
varieties of wild flowers found on Baranoff Island, 
and wild berries abound here as among all the isl- 
ands and on the mainland. The wild raspberry, 
salmon-berry, and thimbleberry are especially 
luxuriant and fine in size and flavor. The woods 
are full of song-birds and of others more* gaudy of 
feather. These are only summer visitors, to be 
sure, among which the rainbow-tinted humming- 
bird made his presence obvious. A pleasant walk 
is finely laid out along the banks of the sparkling 
Indian River, a swift mountain stream, hedged 
with thrifty and graceful alders, by which means 
the citizens have created for themselves a charm- 
ing and favorite promenade. Along the left bank 
of this beautiful watercourse are woodland scenes 
of exquisite rural beauty. 
\ It would be foolish to suggest the idea that 



FARMING NEAR SITKA. 311 

Alaska promises to become eventually a great ag- 
ricultural country; but it is equally incorrect to 
say, as did a certain popular writer not long since, 
that " there is not an acre of farming land in the 
Territory." There are considerable areas of good 
arable land now under profitable cultivation in the 
Sitka district, and large farms, rich in virgin soil, 
could be had for a mere song, as the saying goes, 
in desirable localities, by clearing away the timber 
and draining the land. Some twenty-five milk 
cows are kept at Sitka; milk is sold at ten cents 
per quart. Fresh venison is cheap and abundant, 
and fish of various kinds cost nearly nothing. In 
the immediate vicinity there are three thousand 
acres of arable land, much of which is well grassed 
and covered with white clover. On the foot-hills 
there is plenty of grass for the sustenance of sheep 
and goats. Experienced residents told us that 
wool-growing might be profitably pursued as a 
business here, and that there was not a month in 
the year' when the animals would absolutely re- 
quire to be housed. Hay is easily made, and is in y 
abundance at cheap rates. "I have never seen 
finer potatoes, turnips, cabbages, and garden prod- 
uce generally, than those grown here," says Gov- 
ernor Swineford in his annual report to the De- 
partment at Washington. 

There is a great abundance of natural and nu- 
tritious grasses in most parts of the country, but 
especially in the southern islands and the Kodiak 
group. The great prosperity of Alaska, however, 
to be looked for in the near future, lies in the en- 



312 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

ergetic development of her coal trade, her fisher- 
ies, and her extraordinary mineral wealth. The 
immense supply of timber, some of which is un- 
surpassed in its merchantable value, will come into 
use one or two generations later. The fur-trade, 
already of gigantic proportions, cannot be judi- 
ciously developed beyond its present volume, oth- 
erwise the source of supply will gradually become 
exhausted. It might be quadrupled for a few 
years, but this would be killing the goose that lays 
the golden egg. If protected, as our government 
is striving to do for it to-day, it will continue in- 
definitely to meet the market demand without 
glutting or overstocking it. In this connection, 
and after some inquiry, we cannot refrain from 
expressing the fear that the legal limit as regards 
the slaughter of the seals is greatly exceeded. 
Over three million dollars' worth of canned salmon 
were exported from Alaska last year. u This Ter- 
ritory can supply the world with salmon, herring, 
and halibut of the best quality," says Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson. 

Twenty miles south of Sitka, on the same 
island, there are a number of hot springs, strongly 
impregnated with iron and sulphur, the sanitary 
nature of which has been known to the Indians 
for centuries, and hither they have been in the 
habit of resorting for the cure of certain physical 
ills, especially rheumatism, to which they are so 
liable. Vegetation in the neighborhood of these 
springs is tropical. The temperature of the water 
is said to be 155° Fah. At the time of the Rus- 



DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 313 

sian possession the whites built bath-houses on 
the spot, and much was made of this sanitarium. 
But all is now neglected, except that the natives 
still occasionally resort to the place to enjoy the 
tonic and recuperating effect of the waters. Any- 
thing which will promote cleanliness among the 
Alaskan tribes must be unquestionably of benefit 
to them. There are plenty of hot mineral springs 
all over the various island groups of the Territory, 
and especially that portion which makes out from 
the Alaska Peninsula westward towards Asia. 
The most fatal diseases prevailing among the abo- 
rigines after consumption are scrofulous affec- 
tions ; the latter is thought to be aggravated, if not 
induced, by their almost exclusive fish diet, supple- 
mented by their gross uncleanliness. The Aleuts 
of the south, the Eskimos of the north, and the 
natives generally of the coast and the interior 
sleep and live in such dark, dirty, unventilated 
quarters, reeking with vile odors, that they cannot 
fail to poison their blood and thus induce a myr- 
iad of ills. As we have said, none of these natives 
seem to have any intelligent idea of medicine, and 
they do not possess any herbs, so far as we could 
learn, which are used for medicinal purposes. If 
a native is furnished with a prescription after the 
manner of the whites, he requires at least twice 
the amount of medicine which it is customary to 
give to a white man, otherwise the dose will have 
no apparent effect upon his system. This is a 
never varying experience which medical men 
have found repeated among all savage races. 



314 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

As far as one is able to comprehend the reli- 
gious convictions of the native Sitkans, other than 
the few who have gone through the form of pro- 
fessing Christianity, they seem to entertain a sort 
of animal worship, a reverence for special birds 
and beasts. Like the Japanese they hold certain 
animals sacred and will not injure them. It is 
thus that they have some mystical idea about the 
bear, which prevents them from willingly hunting 
that animal. Ravens are nearly as numerous in 
Sitka as they are in Ceylon, and no one will in- 
jure them. They believe that the spirits of the 
departed occupy the bodies of ravens, hawks, and 
the like. One is reminded that in the temples of 
Canton the Chinese keep sacred hogs ; the Par- 
sees of Bombay worship fire ; the Japanese bow 
before snakes and foxes, as divine symbols ; the 
pious Hindoo deifies cows and monkeys; so there 
is abundant precedent to countenance these sim- 
ple natives of Alaska in their crude worship and 
superstitions. 

Their aboriginal belief is called Shamanism, or 
the propitiating of evil spirits by acceptable offer- 
ings. It is significant that the same faith is par- 
ticipated in by the Siberians, on the other side of 
Behring Strait. This is no new or original form 
of religion ; it was the faith of the Tartar race 
before they became disciples of Buddhism. 

These aborigines seem to anticipate a state of 
future happiness, but not one of rewards and 
punishments. All blessedness in this anticipated 
eternity is for man ; woman, it seems, has no real 



THE MOST POTENT MISSIONARIES. 315 

inheritance in this world or the next ! Slavery, 
vice, and misery would thus appear to be her 
portion in life, and she expects nothing beyond. 
This picture is not overdrawn. These natives 
are now as much a part of our population as are 
the people who live in Massachusetts or Rhode 
Island, and our manifest duty is to educate them. 
The light of reason will soon follow, and like the 
rising sun will burn away this mist of ignorance 
and superstition. Schools are the most potent 
missionaries that can be established among any 
savage race ; reasonable religious convictions will 
follow as a natural result. 

" When the missionary," says W. H. Dall, 
" will leave the trading-post, strike out into the 
wilderness, live in the wilderness, live with the 
Indians, teach them cleanliness first, morality 
next, and by slow and simple teaching raise their 
minds above the hunt and the camp, — then, and 
not until then, they will be able to comprehend 
the simplest principles of right and wrong." 
Though these Indians at the populous centres 
often pretend to yield to the religious teachings 
of the professional missionaries, still, like the 
Chinese religious converts, they are pretty sure to 
return to their idols and superstitions. When the 
Roman Catholic Bishop from San Francisco came 
among the natives of Alaska, and offered to baptize 
their children, the Indians told him that he might 
baptize them if he would pay them for it ! 

H. H. Bancroft, in his work upon the native 
races of the North Pacific, says : " Thick, black 



316 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

clouds, portentous of evil, hang threateningly over 
the savage during his entire life. Genii murmur 
in the flowing river, in the rustling branches of 
the trees are heard the breathings of the gods, 
goblins dance in the vapory twilight, and demons 
howl in the darkness. All these things are hostile 
to man, and must be propitiated by gifts, prayers, 
and sacrifices ; while the religious worship of some 
of the tribes includes practices frightful in their 
atrocity." 

The Sitkans, like many other tribes, used to 
burn their dead before the missionaries partially 
dissuaded them from doing so, but some still adopt 
cremation as a final and most desirable resort. 
To one who has seen its universal application in 
India, there are many strong reasons in its favor. 
The Alaskan native idea of a hell in another 
world constituted of ice, it is said, causes them to 
reason that those buried in the earth may be cold 
forever after, while those whose bodies are burned 
will be forever warm and comfortable in the next 
sphere. After the funeral these aborigines, as we 
have shown, engage in a genuine u wake," reck- 
lessly feasting and drinking to emphasize the im- 
portance of the occasion, and to demonstrate their 
unbounded grief. 

The native women occasionally show some 
taste for music and ability in playing upon the 
accordion, almost the only instrument found in 
their possession. A young Indian girl was seen 
quite alone among the wild flowers just outside 
the town (Sitka) who had been taught a few 



NATIVE MUSICIANS. 317 

pleasing airs, and who surprised us with a well- 
played strain from a familiar opera. She was 
a pretty, gypsy-like child of nature, evidently 
having white blood in her veins, and was not 
over sixteen years of age. The coarse, scanty 
clothing could not disguise her handsome form, 
blight, intelligent face, or hide the depth and 
splendor of her jet-black luminous eyes. When 
she discovered us the accordion was quickly thrust 
behind her, while her downcast eyes expressed 
mortification at being found alone by the white 
strangers, playing to the flowers beside the Indian 
River. She understood English and spoke it 
fairly well, but hesitated to receive the bright bit 
of silver offered to her. When we told her that in 
the East it was the custom to pay those who played 
to us upon musical instruments out-of-doors, and 
described the itinerant hand - organist with his 
monkey, and the brass bands which perambulate 
city streets, she laughed heartily, thrust the shin- 
ing silver in her bosom, and held out her hand 
to greet us cordially. As we turned our steps 
back towards the town the innocent, winning 
face of the young girl haunted us with thoughts 
of hidden possibilities never to be fulfilled. 

On the evening before we left Sitka a brass 
band consisting of twenty-one performers marched 
down to the wharf from the mission school, in 
good military order, headed by their teacher as 
band-master, and serenaded the passengers. The 
band was composed entirely of native boys, the 
oldest not over eighteen, not one of whom had ever 



318 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

seen a brass musical instrument two years ago. 
They performed eight or ten elaborate pieces of 
composition, not passably well, but admirably, in 
perfect time, and with real feeling for the music 
they expressed. It was a surprise to every one 
on board the Corona to hear such a performance 
by natives in this isolated spot in the far north. 
A liberal purse was handed to the teacher to be 
divided among them. 

" Do you know what they will do with this 
money ? " he asked, gratefully. 

" Purchase some trifle, each one after his own 
fancy," we replied. 

" No, sir," said the teacher, " they will tell me, 
every one of them, to purchase some new music 
with the money, which they can practice and learn 
to play together." 

Their means are of course quite circumscribed, 
and they have had but little variety afforded 
them, either in school-books or music. They look 
upon their musical tuition as a reward for good 
behavior, and the severest punishment to them is 
to be deprived of any favorite branch of instruc- 
tion . 

At our final view of Sitka, the quaint capital of 
Alaska was lying quiet and peacefully at the feet 
of Vestova, while enshrouded in a voluptuous 
sheen of afternoon sunlight. A rose-glow rested 
on everything, beautifying the simplest objects. 
Lofty, thickly-wooded hills formed the back- 
ground, while the Greek church and the old cas- 
tle dominated all the humbler buildings. The 



A FINAL VIEW. 319 

waters of the island-dotted bay were as still as an 
inland lake, and flooded with golden reflections. 
Now and again an eagle sailed gracefully from 
one wooded height to another, and the hoarse 
croak of many ravens, held sacred by the Indians, 
greeted the ear. A few United States soldiers 
lounged about their barracks, and a few cannon 
were arranged upon the broad common. These 
were light neldpieces, more for show than for 
use. Groups of natives clad in bright-colored 
blankets were seen here and there before their 
simple dwellings which line the beach. A broad, 
intensely green plateau forms the centre of the set- 
tlement, about which the better houses of the 
whites are situated. A little to the left, nearer to 
the hills, is the curiously arranged burial-ground 
of the aborigines, with a few totem-poles, and 
many boxes reared above ground in which are de- 
posited the remains of former chiefs. On a slight 
rise of ground stands the ancient blockhouse, built 
of logs, from which the Russians once made a des- 
perate fight with the natives. Behind us Mount 
Edgecombe loomed far up among the clouds, where 
its apex was half hidden, and in the same direc- 
tion, not far away, was the open Pacific. It was 
nearly ten o'clock P. M. before the sun set behind 
the distant western hills in a blaze of scarlet, 
yellow, and purple, reflected by soft, butterfly 
clouds and mountain tops in the east. After that 
came the luminous moonlight, making a regal 
glory of the darkness, and flashing in opal gleams 
from the sea. 



320 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

While watching the rippling lustre of the water, 
tremulous with starlight and the languid breath 
of the night air, one was fain to ask if it was all 
quite real, if this was not a fancy picture from the 
land of dreams. Could these be the far-away 
shores of Alaska ? The pathos and tenderness of 
the scene, the glow, and fire, and throbbing love- 
liness, were indescribable. Even the few fleecy 
clouds which sailed between us and the planets 
seemed as if they came to waft our hymn of praise 
to Heaven. Is not such surpassing beauty of na- 
ture an image of the Infinite One ? 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Return Voyage. — Prince of Wales Island. — Peculiar 
Effects. — Island and Ocean Voyages contrasted. — Laby- 
rinth of Verdant Islands. — Flora of the North. — Political 
Condition of Alaska. — Return to Victoria. — What Cloth- 
ing to wear on the Journey North. — City of Vancouver. — 
Scenes in British Columbia. — Through the Mountain Ranges. 

The return voyage from Sitka b}^ the inland 
course takes us first through Peril Straits, so 
named on account of its many submerged rocks 
and reefs. It is, however, a wonderfully pictur- 
esque passage between the two lofty islands of 
Chicagoff and Baranoff, strewn as it is with im- 
pediments to navigation. We pass the Indian 
village of Kootznahoo, occupied by a tribe of the 
same name, a people who have always proved to 
be restless and aggressive, requiring a strong hand 
to control them. They are peaceable enough now, 
having been taught some severe lessons by way of 
discipline. This tribe as a body still adheres to 
many of the revolting practices of their ances- 
tors, which other Alaskans, who are brought into 
more intimate relations with the whites, have dis- 
carded. They are also said to be more under 
the influence of their medicine-men, who foster all 
sorts of vile rites and superstitions, without the 
prevalence of which their occupation and impor- 
tance would vanish. 



322 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

We make our way through the winding chan- 
nels of the Alexander Archipelago, of which the 
Prince of Wales Island is one of the largest and 
most mountainous. It is about a hundred and 
seventy-five miles long by fifty miles in width; 
that is to say, it is as large as the State of New 
Jersey, and in fact contains more square miles. 
It is mostly covered with dense forests of Alaska 
cedar, the best of ship -timber. The shores are 
indented on all sides by fjords extending a con- 
siderable distance into the land. Salmon abound 
in and about this island, which has led to the 
establishment of several large fish-canning facto- 
ries, two new ones being added during the past 
season. The principal native tribe upon the 
island is known as the Haidas, whose villages 
are scattered along the coast. The interior of the 
island is not only uninhabited, but it is unex- 
plored. The shore hamlets are called " rancher- 
ies." Each sub-tribe has a special one represent- 
ing its capital, where the head chiefs live. Their 
laws seem to be simply a series of conventional- 
ities. The houses of these Haidas are better 
structures than those of most natives of the Ter- 
ritory, and they surround themselves, as a rule, 
with more domestic comforts. Woolen blankets 
appear to be the investment in which all the spare 
means of the members of this, as well as most 
other tribes, are placed, and by the number they 
possess they estimate their wealth. Woolen 
blankets, in fact, averaging in value from two dol- 
lars and a half to three and a half, are the native 



IN THE ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO. 323 

currency or circulating medium, being received as 
such when in good condition; and also given out 
at the trading stations as payment to natives for 
furs or for any service, unless specie is preferred. 

The meandering course of the steamer brings us 
now before one Indian hamlet and island, and now 
another; but these villages are very few in num- 
ber, hours, and even a whole da}% being sometimes 
passed, while on our course, without meeting a sol- 
itary canoe or seeing a human being outside the 
vessel's bulwarks. These islands, as a rule, have 
no gravelly or sandy beach, but spring abruptly 
from out the almost bottomless sea, in their pro- 
portions ranging from an acre to the size of a Eu- 
ropean principality. 

Now and again we come upon a reach of the 
shore where it is shelving, and for a mile or more 
it is bastioned by a course of stones, of such uni- 
form height and even surface as to seem like the 
work of clever stone-masons. Skilled workers 
with plummet and line could produce nothing 
more regular. 

In some places, as we quietly glide close in to 
the shadow of the land, shut in by the morning 
fog and mist wreaths, the effects are very curious 
and even startling. It not being possible to see 
very far up the shrouded cliffs, down whose sides 
there rush narrow, silvery cascades, with a merry, 
laughing sound, they often have the appearance 
of coming directly out of the sky. It seems as 
though some peak had punctured one of the over- 
charged clouds, and it was pouring out its liquid 
contents through the big aperture. 



324 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

The contrast between a voyage across the open 
ocean and a sail of two weeks in this inland sea is 
notable. In the former instance the voyagers find 
fruitful themes in the vast expanse and fabulous 
depth of the ocean, the huge monsters and tiny 
creatures occupying it, the record of the ship's 
progress, her exact tonnage, and the trade in which 
she has been engaged since she was launched. 
Few persons have in themselves sufficient intel- 
lectual resources not to become oppressed with 
ennui under the circumstances. Between Puget 
Sound and Glacier Bay how different is the expe- 
rience ! There is no monotony here ; every mo- 
ment is replete with, curious sights, every succeed- 
ing hour full of fresh discoveries. The panoramic 
view is crowded all day long with sky-reaching 
mountains, scarred by wild convulsions ; verdant 
islands embowered in giant trees ; rocky peaks ris- 
ing from the bottom of the sea to a thousand feet 
and more above our topmast head ; cascades tum- 
bling down precipitous cliffs ; Indian hamlets dot- 
ted by totem-poles ; canoes gliding over the silent 
surface of the deep channels ; inlets crowded with 
schools of salmon ; mammoth glaciers emptying 
themselves into the sea and forming opaline ice- 
bergs sharply reflecting the sun's dazzling rays. 
There is no time for ennui among such scenes as 
these ; the eyes are captivated by the beauty and 
the variety, while the imagination is constantly 
stimulated to its utmost capacity. 

The flora of this far northern country does not 
exhibit the wonderful luxuriance and productive- 



AN ATTRACTIVE REGION. 325 

ness which captivates us in the tropics, though one 
gathers some extremely attractive specimens. Nei- 
ther the flowers, the insects, nor the birds are 
marked with the brilliancy of color which distin- 
guish those bathed continually in waves of equa- 
torial sunlight. Here, grandeur prevails over 
beauty ; the trees, if not so verdant, excel in size 
and majesty; the mountains, in height; the riv- 
ers, in volume and length ; while the glaciers are 
without comparison in magnitude and power. 
Here, is simplicity, vastness, magnificence ; there, 
fertility, fragrance, loveliness. Neither in the 
north nor in the south is there the least infringe- 
ment upon the great harmonies of Nature ; admi- 
rable consistency and order exist everywhere, typ- 
ifying a great, overruling, supreme Intelligence. 

We pause for a moment amid the silent tran- 
quillity to sum up our experience while gliding 
along this beautiful and peaceful inland sea on 
the return voyage. The author does not hesitate 
to pronounce Alaska to be one of the most at- 
tractive regions in the world for summer tourists. 
From early June to September the temperature 
prevailing upon the entire route is equable, the 
thermometer ranging all the while between sixty 
and seventy degrees Fah. The progress of the 
steamer always creates a gentle and agreeable 
breeze, which renders warm clothing desirable, 
especially at early morning and in the evening, 
though these are periods not so distinctly defined 
as with us in New England. An overcoat is 
rarely rendered necessary or desirable. If the 



326 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

mosquitoes are troublesome at certain places on 
shore, in marshy regions, they are never so on the 
water, as the breeze inevitably drives such insects 
away. Let us say especially there is no other 
such inviting resort for pleasure yachts as this 
inland, island-dotted sea of Alaska. If the fogs 
put in an appearance sometimes in the morning, 
they are after a while burned away by the warmth 
of the sun. Local rains on shore are to be oc- 
casionally endured, but they are no great draw- 
back to observation and brief excursions. At 
Sitka, Wrangel, and Juneau several showers may 
occur during the day, with, intervals of bright 
and cloudless skies between. We have witnessed 
seven copious, well-sustained showers of rain on 
a May forenoon in Chicago, the intervals sand- 
wiched with sunshine of gorgeous clearness and 
warmth. Why pretend that Alaska is exceptional 
in this respect ? The weather is not perfect, ac- 
cording to our estimate, anywhere. Finally the 
extended trip upon the boat was found to cover a 
little over two thousand miles in all, and was with 
us one of continuous pleasure, enlivened by as 
bright and cheerful weather as one experiences 
on an average elsewhere, winding among an im- 
mense archipelago of mountains, emerald islands, 
and land-locked bays, through narrow channels 
dominated by precipitous cliffs, and crossing broad, 
lake-like expanses as placid as the serene blue 
overhanging all. 

No other government on the globe, in this 
nineteenth century, would permit so large and im- 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ALASKA. 327 

portant a portion of its territory to remain unex- 
plored. Congress should send at once a thoroughly 
equipped scientific expedition, competent to report 
minutely upon the geology, fauna, flora, and geog- 
raphy of this immense division of the country. 
It is more than an oversight, it is a gross blunder, 
not to do this without further delay. If our own 
pen-pictures of this neglected Territory shall in- 
cite to the fulfillment of such an act of official 
duty, these pages will have served at least one im- 
portant purpose. 

" With a comparatively mild climate," says C. 
E. S. Wood, in an account of a visit to Alaska, 
printed in the " Century Magazine," " with most 
valuable shipbuilding timber covering the islands, 
with splendid harbors, with inexhaustible fisheries, 
with an abundance of coal, with copper, lead, 
silver, and gold awaiting the prospector, it is 
surprising that an industrious, shipbuilding, fish- 
ing colony from New England or other States has 
not established itself in Alaska." 

The political condition of Alaska is anything 
but creditable to our country. It has little more 
than the shadow of a civil government, and is en- 
tirely without any land laws by which a resident 
can secure a title to the soil upon which he builds 
his house. The act of Congress dated May 7, 
1 884, providing an apology for a civil government, 
was not passed until twenty years after the Terri- 
tory had been acquired. As a consequence the 
material progress of the country and its inviting 
possibilities remain undeveloped. With the ex- 



328 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

tension of the United States local laws to this 
section, immigration would be at once promoted 
and various industries established. " Why we are 
so neglected is incomprehensible," said a resident 
of Sitka. " All we ask is the same advantages 
enjoyed by the citizens of the other Territories of 
the United States." It is certainly to be hoped 
that Congress will give early attention to this 
important matter, for Alaska is destined to become 
one of our most valuable possessions. We shall 
be excused for making use of so strong an expres- 
sion, but it is only too true that her interests have 
been persistently and shamefully neglected by the 
law-makers at Washington. 

" Like the dog in the manger," saj T s Miss Kate 
Field, " Congress will do nothing for Alaska, nor 
will it permit Alaska to do anything for herself 
locally, or at Washington through a delegate. 
Yet, in 1890, two islands of this despised and 
neglected province will have paid into the United 
States Treasury 16,340,000, — within one million 
of Alaska's entire purchase ! " 

The present comparative isolation of Alaska 
will not be of long duration ; not only are the 
facilities for reaching the Territory being annually 
increased from the east, but it is being also rapidly 
approached in this respect from the west. The 
Russian government is building a railroad in 
almost a straight line from Moscow to Behring 
Sea, which it is confidently believed will be com- 
pleted within five years. Direct communication 
will thus be established between St. Petersburg 



TOURING DRESS. 329 

and the Russian Pacific ports, through Siberia, 
whose most easterly point is less than forty miles 
from the soil of Alaska. 

After sailing four or five days southward, bear- 
ing always slightly to the east, through a wilder- 
ness of islands and along the mountain-fringed 
coast of the mainland, the ship comes upon the 
open sea, and the passengers realize for a short 
time the effect of the Pacific Ocean swell. The 
sensitiveness of some people to its influence is as 
remarkable as the stolid indifference of others. 
Here, where the Japanese Current meets the cold 
air from off the coast, fogs are very liable to pre- 
vail, though it was not so in the writer's case. We 
are now in comparatively open navigation and can 
lay our course without fear. Soon Queen Char- 
lotte's Sound is entered, and for a day and a half 
the steamer again skirts the picturesque shore of 
Vancouver, whose features are reproduced in the 
deep, quiet waters with marvelous distinctness, 
until finally we are once more landed at Victoria, 
the capital of British Columbia. 

We are frequently asked since our return what 
clothing and other articles one should take, with 
which to make the inland voyage through Alaskan 
waters. This is easily answered. 

As the rainfall is frequent be sure to have a 
good stout umbrella. Ladies would do well to 
take a gossamer waterproof and gentlemen a 
mackintosh. Heavy shoes, that is with double 
soles, and a light overcoat should be provided. 
There is no occasion for full dress, — court dress, 



660 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

on this route, swallow-tails are so much needless 
baggage. Ladies' skirts should be short so they 
will not draggle on the wet deck of the steamer, 
or in walking through the damp grass, or over the 
surface of a glacier. In the latter instance gentle- 
men generally carry portable spikes that can be 
screwed on to the bottom of the shoes, and a staff 
cane with a stout ferule. When a party is formed 
to ascend a glacier a small hatchet and small rope 
should always be taken by some one of their num- 
ber. In case of an accident these often become of 
great importance. There need not be any acci- 
dent, however, if ordinary prudence is observed. 

A large and well-appointed steamer named the 
Islander, which plies regularly on this route, 
takes one across the island-sprinkled Gulf of 
Georgia in six or seven hours from Victoria 
to Vancouver on the mainland. This is the ter- 
minus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, situated 
a short distance from the mouth of the Fraser 
River. From here the homeward course is almost 
due east through British Columbia, Alberta, As- 
siniboia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec to Mon- 
treal, thence southeast to Boston. 

So late as 1886 the present site of Vancouver 
was covered with a dense forest of Douglass pines, 
cedar and spruce trees. The Canadian Pacific 
Railway was completed to Vancouver in May, 
1887, when the first through train arrived from 
Montreal. The youthful city is well situated for 
commercial purposes on what is called Burrard 
Inlet. It has extensive wharves, substantial ware- 



CITY OF VANCOUVER. 331 

houses, and very good hotel accommodations. 
Well-arranged public water-works bring the need- 
ful domestic supply in pure and healthful condi- 
tion from the neighboring hills. The surrounding 
scenery is strikingly bold, embracing the Cascade 
Range in the north, the mountains of Vancouver 
Island across the water in the west, and the Olym- 
pian Range in the south, while the great snowy 
head of Mount Baker rears itself skyward as the 
main feature in the southeast. The steamer which 
brings us here from Victoria passes through a 
beautiful archipelago of peaceful islands, verdant 
and wooded to the very brink. The busy popula- 
tion of this infant city number between thirteen 
and fourteen thousand, and the place is growing 
rapidly. It is lighted by both gas and electricity. 
Forty substantial edifices for business and dwell- 
ing purposes are in course of erection at this writ- 
ing. There are steamers which sail regularly 
from here for Japan, China, and San Francisco. 
As it is in the midst of what may be called a 
wild country, there is excellent hunting near at 
hand and large game is abundant. Many sports- 
men, especially from England, make their head- 
quarters here while devoting themselves to hunting 
for a large part of the summer season. Four large 
English sloops of war were observed in the harbor 
at the time of the writer's visit, together with a 
couple of torpedo boats bearing the same flag, des- 
tined for Behring Sea, to " emphasize " the British 
side of the Alaska fishery question as between our 
government and that of Great Britain. 



332 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

As one stands on the shore the harbor presents 
a picture of great variety and interest, compris- 
ing men-of-war boats pulled by disciplined crews ; 
canoes, paddled by Indian squaws wrapped in high- 
colored blankets ; boats loaded with valuable furs 
and propelled by aboriginal hunters; here a raft 
of timber, and there a steam ferry-boat. Just in 
shore there is passing as we watch the scene a 
native canoe carrying a sail made of bark-mat- 
ting, brown and dingy, steered with a paddle by 
an aged, withered, white-haired Indian, while in 
the prow is a four or five year old native boy, 
trailing his hands idly in the water over the side of 
the tiny craft. A striking picture of the voyage 
of life : thoughtless, happy, vigorous youth at 
the prow, with weary age and experience awaiting 
the end at the stern. A couple of large steamers 
close at hand are getting under way loaded with 
preserved fish, put up at the canneries near by ; 
one is bound for Australia, the other for England, 
by way of Cape Horn. 

Vancouver has many edifices of brick and stone, 
with good churches and several schools ; some of 
the private residences being remarkable for their 
complete architectural character in so new a city 
as this which forms the terminus of the Canadian 
Pacific Railway. 

The principal part of the city occupies a penin- 
sula, bounded north by the waters of Burrard In- 
let, south by a small indentation called False Creek, 
and west by English Bay. The city is fast ex- 
tending beyond these limits, both east and south. 



THE LONG JOURNEY HOMEWARD. 333 

The peninsula rises gradually to an altitude of 
two hundred feet, more or less, affording the means 
of perfect drainage for the new city, which is laid 
out on a grand scale. A tramway, embracing the 
several suburbs, is in course of construction, the 
motor for which will be electricity. 

We take the cars at Vancouver for our long 
journey homeward over the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
way, through the British Dominion to the Atlan- 
tic coast, indulging in a last admiring view of the 
grand elevation known as Mount Baker, which in 
these closing days of July is a mass of snow two 
thousand feet from its summit. Upon starting 
our attention is first drawn to the gigantic trees, 
big sawmills, immense piles of lumber, and exten- 
sive brick-yards in the environs of the city. Small 
villages are passed, straggling farms, Indian camps, 
mining lodges, and Chinese " hives," where these 
people congregate after working all day at placer 
mining, and gamble half the night, sacrificing 
their laboriously acquired means. The grand 
winding valley of the Fraser River — a water- 
course as large as the Ohio — is followed for over 
two hundred miles in a northeasterly direction, 
affording glimpses of most charming and vivid 
scenery, leading through canons fully equaling in 
grandeur of form and beauty of detail anything 
of the sort in Colorado. 

Now and again groups of Indians are seen pre- 
paring the salmon they have caught for winter 
use. The fish are split and stretched flat by 
wooden braces, then hung in long pink lines upon 



334 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

low frames of wood. They use no salt in this cur- 
ing process, but simply dry the fish by atmos- 
pheric exposure, and succeed very well in thus 
preserving it. Dried salmon forms the principal 
staple of food for this people in the long Canadian 
winters. These natives, as in our own instance, 
are subsidized by the Dominion ; that is, they are 
placed upon reservations and receive a certain 
amount of money and rations annually from the 
government. Light green patches of raspberries 
are passed here and there, where children are gath- 
ering the ripe fruit in abundance, the bright color 
about their mouths betraying how abundantly they 
have feasted while thus engaged. It was a pleas- 
ant picture to gaze upon under the pearly blue 
sky, where we were surrounded with the fragrant 
odor of pine and spruce, and the ceaseless music 
of hurrying waters. 

At times the river rushes through deep rocky 
ravines, and at others expands into broad shallows 
with glittering sand bars, on which eager groups 
of miners are seen washing for gold. We cross a 
deep, cavernous gorge of the river on a graceful 
steel bridge, which, though doubtless of ample 
strength, yet seems of spider-web proportions, then 
plunge into a dark tunnel to emerge directly amid 
scenery of the wildest nature, set with huge bowl- 
ders and noisy with boiling flumes and roaring 
cascades, where color, splendor, and inspiration 
greet us at each turn, while every object is soft- 
ened by the pale afternoon sunlight. 

By and by we pass up the valley of the Thorn- 



THROUGH THE GOLD RANGE. 335 

son River, a tributary of the Fraser, finding our- 
selves presently in what is called the Gold, or Co- 
lumbian, range of mountains, a grand snow-clad 
series of hills. Our route through them for nearly 
fifty miles is in the form of a deep, narrow pass 
between vertical cliffs, forming land channels sim- 
ilar to the water-ways which we have lately left 
behind us in the Alexander Archipelago. 

At the small stations boys and girls board the 
cars with tiny baskets of luscious blackberries and 
ripe raspberries for sale, soon disposing of them to 
the passengers. These are picked within a dozen 
rods of the railway track, where they are seen in 
great abundance. Wild flowers beautify the road- 
way, among which the most attractive are the 
golden-rod, the bright pink fire-weed, the towering 
and graceful spirea, the wild musk with its large 
bell-shaped scarlet flower, the fragrant tansy, with 
snow-ball clusters of white, and big patches of the 
tiny wild sunflower, its petals in deepest yellow, 
while among the lily-pads dotting the pools of wa- 
ter, orange-hued lilies are in full and gorgeous 
bloom. 

The scenery is strictly Alpine, but constantly 
varies as our point of view changes, and we thread 
miles upon miles of snow-sheds. Heavy veils of 
mist fringe the mountain-tops, and the tall peaks 
are wrapped in winding-sheets of perpetual snow. 
The rugged scenery is fine, but finer is yet to 
come. Still climbing upwards, we are presently in 
the Selkirks, threading tunnels, dark gorges, som- 
bre canons, and narrow passes to the summit of 



336 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

this remarkable range, forced onward by two pow- 
erful engines, one in the rear the other in front of 
the train. 

At a point known as Albert Canon the railway- 
runs along the brink of several dark fissures in 
the solid rock, three hundred feet deep, through 
which rushes the turbulent waters of the Illicilli- 
waet River (" Raging Waters "). Here the cars 
are stopped for a few moments that the passengers 
may the better observe the boiling flumes of angry 
waters, flecked with patches of foam, and com- 
pressed within granite walls scarcely twenty feet 
apart. 

In approaching Glacier House station, at a cer- 
tain point the train ascends six hundred feet in a 
distance of two miles. This is accomplished by 
a zigzag course, utilizing two ravines which are 
favorably situated for the purpose ; the consum- 
mation is a grand triumph of engineering skill. 
While passing through this winding course we are 
serenaded by a chorus of dancing rapids, foam- 
ing cataracts, and rushing cascades. Here the 
torrents and waterfalls are innumerable, first on 
one side then on the other of our slowly-climb- 
ing train, and finally on both the right and the 
left, gleaming with bright prismatic rays while 
moving with tremendous impetus. Sir Donald, 
the highest peak of the Selkirk Range, shaped like 
an acute pyramid, now comes into view, rising to 
eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
and piercing the blue zenith with its inaccessible 
summit. It is named after one of the most ac- 



SIR DONALD. 337 

tive promoters of this transcontinental railway. 
Sir Donald sends down from its immense snow- 
fields a ponderous glacier half a mile wide and 
eight miles long, presenting most of the charac- 
teristics of such frozen rivers, though lacking the 
grand effect of those so lately seen in Alaska, 
where they join the ocean in partially congealed 
form, thus producing thousands of icebergs. This 
Donald glacier is nevertheless equal to the average 
of European ones. The mountain has never yet 
been ascended. We were told that a thousand 
dollars and a free pass over the railway for life 
await the successful mountain-climber who reaches 
the summit. 

In making our way through Beaver Canon and 
Stony Creek Canon, the highest timber railway 
bridge ever constructed is passed, three hundred 
feet high and four hundred and fifty long, sup- 
ported by direct uprights. Safe enough, per- 
haps, but one breathes freer and deeper when it 
is passed. 

It would seem as though mosquitoes could hardly 
thrive at such an altitude, but their number here 
is myriad, and their vicious activity at Glacier 
House station beggars description. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

In the Heart of the Rocky Mountains. — Struggle in a Thunder- 
storm. — Grand Scenery. — Snow-Capped Mountains and Gla- 
ciers. — Banff Hot Springs. — The Canadian Park. — Eastern 
Gate of the Rockies. — Calgary. — Natural Gas. — Cree and 
Blackfeet Indians. — Kegina. — Farming on a Big Scale. — 
Port Arthur. — North Side of Lake Superior. — A Midsum- 
mer Night's Dream. 

Rogers' Pass, at an altitude of four thousand 
two hundred and seventy-five feet above the sea, 
is situated between two ranges of snow-clad peaks, 
whence a dozen glaciers may be seen in various 
directions, frigid and ponderous. 

As we came through this remarkable pass, in 
the afternoon, dark clouds rapidly spread them- 
selves over the sky, reinforced by others more 
dense and threatening, engulfing us suddenly in 
darkness. Then the artillery of the heavens rang 
out in such deafening reports as to stifle all at- 
tempts at speech. The discharges and echoes 
among the gloomy gulches and tall peaks min- 
gled so rapidly that it was impossible to separate 
cause and effect. The rain was like a cloud-burst. 
The sharp flashes of lightning were so incessant 
and blinding that one sat with closed eyes and 
bated breath. The great locomotive could barely 
make way on the steep up-grade, the wheels hav- 
ing so much less hold upon the track when thus 



A MOUNTAIN STORM. 339 

submerged. Passengers looked into each other's 
pale faces in fear and amazement. Still the slow, 
regular throb, throb, of the iron horse was hea-rd 
through the din of the thunder and the roar of 
rushing waters. We did move forward, — barely 
moved. To stop would be destruction ; backward 
impetus would instantly follow, and no brakes 
are powerful enough to stop the train from a dash 
downward towards the plain if once it started in 
that direction. But stay. Soon there came a 
faint glimmer of light from out of the sky, gradu- 
ally this increased, the dark pall of the heavens 
was slowly removed, and the afternoon sun burst 
forth with soft, ineffable beauty. The thunder 
sounded farther and farther away, the echoes 
ceased, and the throb, throb of the ponderous en- 
gine steadily held the long train and forced the 
great load onward. 

At Field station, in the heart of the Rocky 
Mountains, we begin an ascent of twelve hundred 
and fifty feet with two powerful engines, where 
the roadway is cut out of the sides of nearly per- 
pendicular cliffs to which it seems to cling with 
iron grasp, overhanging the roaring torrent of the 
Kicking Horse River, which flows at a fabulous 
depth below. Here we cross now and again trestle 
bridges, three hundred feet above some frightful 
gorge, or pass over a viaduct of great span. The 
highest point of the road is reached at fi^-three 
hundred feet above the level of the sea, or say 
just one vertical mile. This extreme elevation is 
about five hundred miles from Vancouver. 



340 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

The scenery at this point is grand beyond de- 
scription, thrilling the whole nervous system while 
we gaze at it and vainly strive to comprehend its 
vastness. The very excess of emotion makes one 
dumb. The most experienced traveler watches 
the changing scene with a vivid interest. So 
wild, so comprehensive, and so startling a natural 
panorama is rarely met with in any land. A 
longing comes over the observer to divide the 
ecstasy of the moment with the loved ones left be- 
hind. No joy is complete which is not shared ; it 
is no hermit quality, but was born a twin. Moun- 
tains, valleys, glacier-bound peaks, domes, spires, 
and snow-capped pyramids are seen in all direc- 
tions, brought out in minute detail by the singu- 
lar clearness of the atmosphere. Tall forests are 
spread out far, far below our feet, the mammoth 
trees looking no larger than pen handles, while 
the river winds like a broad silver belt through 
the green sward of the valley. Thus the Canadian 
Pacific Railway passes for hundreds of miles along 
glacial streams in full sight of the frozen rivers 
which feed them. 

By and by we come in view of Castle Moun- 
tain, five thousand feet in height, which, with a 
little help of the imagination, becomes a giant's 
keep, turreted, bastioned, and battlemented. At 
another point of view it presents a remarkable 
resemblance to the grand Indian Temple of Tan- 
jore. A short distance farther and we reach 
Banff, where a couple of days were most agreea- 
bly passed by the author. The railway station 



THE CANADIAN PARK. 341 

here is in the midst of sky-piercing heights, whose 
first impression upon the traveler is both solemn 
and lonely. To the northward stands Cascade 
Mountain, nearly ten thousand feet in height; 
eastward is Mount Inglismaldie, beyond which 
looms up the sharp cone of Mount Peechee, reach- 
ing more than ten thousand feet into the blue 
ether. Close at hand rises the thickly wooded 
ridge of Squaw Mountain, in whose shadow lie the 
beautiful Vermilion Lakes, the home of myriads 
of wild geese and ducks. Other mountains are in 
view, but in the memorable tableau which we re- 
call the grand peaks we have mentioned are the 
most prominent. 

This is the station for the Rocky Mountain 
Park, the altitude being forty-five hundred feet 
above the sea. At this point the Canadian gov- 
ernment has established a national reservation 
after the plan of our Yellowstone Park, between 
which and this place lies five hundred miles of the 
wildest sort of country. There is no comparison 
between the two parks, either in size, importance, 
or natural wonders. This reservation is twenty- 
six miles long by ten in width, embracing portions 
of three rivers, with two considerable lakes, cas- 
cades, and waterfalls. The scenery could not be 
otherwise than bold, being in the midst of such a 
mountain range and surrounded by such monarch 
elevations. Money is to be freelj 7- expended in 
making good paths, together with convenient av- 
enues and bridges. 

The Pacific Railway Hotel at Banff is a large, 



342 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

admirably situated, and picturesque establishment, 
designed to accommodate from two to three hun- 
dred guests at a time, and is especially patronized 
by Canadian bridal parties. The view from it is 
superb, commanding the winding course of the 
Bow River and valley for miles, with the many 
adjacent mountains. The river pours swiftly 
down from its sources among the snow fields, and 
plunges seventy feet over rock and precipice close 
beside the hotel, passing almost beneath our feet 
as we stand upon the broad piazza, gazing in ad- 
miration at the grand scenic carnival, and listen- 
ing to the thrilling anthem of the rushing waters, 
while breathing the soft aroma of the Douglas 
pine and cedar forests which cover the surrounding 
slopes. The region in proximity to the hotel will 
give the lover of fishing ample sport. Trout of 
large size abound in Devil's Lake near at hand. 
A guest brought in forty pounds of this gamey 
fish, caught in two hours' time in the lake, while 
the author was at Banff. Wild sheep and moun- 
tain goats abound in the neighboring hills, while 
bears are more numerous than is desirable. Wild- 
cats, mountain lions, deer, and caribou are also 
frequently shot by the hunters. The restriction 
as to use of firearms which, is established in the 
Yellowstone Park does not apply in this region. 
Sportsmen roam where they please and freely 
hunt the wild animals which roam in this section 
of the country. Good roads and bridle paths take 
one in all directions among some of the finest 
scenery of the Rocky Mountains, where we watch 



BANFF HOT SPRINGS. 343 

the morning sun dispel the mist which floats up- 
ward and away, disclosing the snow-decked peaks 
in their virgin whiteness blushing roseate tints at 
the ardor of the sun. 

This is called the eastern gateway to the Rocky 
Mountains, through which the grand Bow River 
flows on its diversified journey of fifteen hundred 
miles to Hudson Bay. 

There are extensive hot springs on the eastern 
slope of what is known as the Sulphur Range, 
some six thousand feet above the sea level. They 
are at different elevations, and have good bathing- 
houses erected over them, in charge of courteous 
attendants. One of the springs is inside of a 
dome -roofed cave, which is a favorite resort of 
visitors to Banff. The medicinal character of 
these springs is considered so important that an 
iron pipe two miles in length conducts their 
heated waters for use at the hotel, the normal 
temperature being sustained by metallic coils of 
superheated steam. It rains much and often in 
this region. The weeping clouds make one feel 
rather gloomy, purely out of sympathy for their 
ceaseless tears, but when the sun finally asserts 
his power and lifts the misty veil, then come forth 
in bold contrast silvery, sparkling, sky-reach- 
ing mountains, covered with their frosty mantles, 
together with richly wooded valleys and river- 
threaded canons, opening views of unrivaled sub- 
limity and grandeur. 

At Anthracite, five hundred and seventy miles 
from Vancouver, we are forty-three hundred and 



344 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

fifty feet above the sea. Here are the remarkable 
coal mines located in the Fairholme Range, a true 
anthracite of excellent quality and of great im- 
portance to the railway. The pass through which 
the road takes us is four miles wide, great masses 
of serrated rocks rising on either side, back of 
which mountains tower above each other as far 
as the eye can reach, forming long vistas of lofty 
elevations so numerous as not to bear individual 
names. 

At Calgary, about a hundred miles farther east- 
ward, we are still thirty-four hundred feet above 
the sea. This is a particularly handsome and 
thriving young town, scarcely four years old, but 
containing three thousand inhabitants. It is pleas- 
antly situated on a hill-girt plateau, in full view 
of the jagged peaks of the Rockies, thirty or forty 
miles away, and which, as we look back upon 
them, form a vast blue and white crescent ex- 
tending around the western horizon. Two placid 
rivers, the Bow and Elbow, wind through the 
broad green valley, adding a charming feature as 
they mingle with the tall waving grass. Here 
cattle and sheep ranches abound, extending west- 
ward to the very foot-hills of the great mountain 
range, and stretching far away to the southward 
a hundred and fifty miles to the United States 
boundary line. We were told that the cattle and 
horses ranging over this space would aggregate 
two hundred thousand head. 

As we passed through the Province of Alberta 
at night, occasionally jets of flaming natural gas, 



CROSSING THE PRAIRIE. 345 

which finds vent through the soil from reservoirs 
located at unknown depths, were burning brightly 
to light us on the way. This gas, so liberally sup- 
plied by nature free of cost, is utilized to create a 
motive power at Langevin, where it pumps water 
for the use of the railway. Representatives of 
the aboriginal Cree and Blackfeet tribes form 
picturesque groups along the railway line, com- 
posed of barbarous, uncleanly looking squaws and 
bucks, the latter only kept from the warpath by 
the presence of the efficient mounted police. 

The contrast presented in emerging from the 
mountain ranges on to the level country is very re- 
markable. For hundreds of miles we pass through 
an almost uninhabited, treeless country, a long, 
long reach of prairie as boundless as the sea, and 
where no more of human life is seen than on the 
ocean. There are no hills, scarcely any undula- 
tions ; the sun rises apparently out of the ground 
in the early gray of the morning, and sets in the 
endless level of the prairie at night. Small sta- 
tions, twenty or thirty miles apart, have been built 
by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, con- 
sisting of a dwelling-house and a water-tank for 
the necessary supply of its engines, but the line 
is thus characterized through a thousand miles, 
where there is no way travel, and no local busi- 
ness, outside of its own necessities. The infer- 
ence is plain that it crosses this distance at ex- 
traordinary expense, which must be supported by 
the terminal business on the Pacific and Atlantic 
ends of the road. 



346 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

The Cree and Blackfeet tribes are said to have 
no religion and few superstitions, being a restless, 
dangerous race, ranking very low in point of in- 
telligence, even as savages. The efforts of the 
missionaries, we were told, have entirely failed to 
civilize or even permanently to improve the con- 
dition of the two tribes we have named. The 
women are hideously ugly, smeared with vermil- 
ion, and weighed down with cheap brass rings and 
bracelets of the same metal. The one article of 
sale offered to the traveler by these tribes is the 
polished horns of the buffalo, picked up upon the 
vast prairies of this region where they have been 
bleaching for many years. These are colored 
black by some process, and when highly polished 
are mounted in pairs, as they are placed by nature 
on the animal's head. 

At Regina, eleven hundred miles from Vancou- 
ver, we are still two thousand feet above the sea. 
This is the capital of the Province of Assiniboia, 
situated in the centre of an almost boundless 
plain. Here are the headquarters of the North- 
western Mounted Police, a very necessary military 
organization of a thousand men, distributed over 
this region to look after the Indians, who are ever 
ready to commit depredations when they feel they 
can do so with impunity, and also to preserve good 
order generally among the several frontier com- 
munities. It was at Regina that Louis Riel, the 
principal promoter of the late rebellion against 
the Dominion government, was tried and hanged 
not long since. It is called here the " half-breed 



BLACKFEET INDIANS. 347 

rebellion." Over the far-reaching, trackless, arid 
prairies, as lonely as an Egyptian desert, the cloud 
effects towards the day's close are noticeably very 
fine, while the twilight lingers to the very verge 
of night. At times we pass through a broad tract 
of land ten miles or more square, from which a 
whole forest has been swept by conflagration, 
probably started by an unfortunate spark from a 
passing locomotive, or, quite as likely, by the care- 
lessness of some camping party of sportsmen. 
These large spaces, which would otherwise be in- 
tensely dreary, are already carpeted with a fresh 
green undergrowth, with which nature always has- 
tens to obliterate the devastation caused by the 
ruthless flames. 

As our train stopped briefly at Regina a group 
of mounted Blackfeet Indians dashed across the 
prairie and drew up near the station. A wild, 
weird score of semi-savages, very picturesque in 
their garments of many colors and their decora- 
tions of quills, beads, and feathers, with a scalp 
hanging from the waist here and there among 
them. Their long, unkempt black hair flowed all 
about their necks and features, which were more 
or less besmeared with vermilion. Their leggings 
of deer-hide were fringed on the outer side, and 
their leather moccasins were lashed with deerskin 
thongs up the ankles. Some had stirrups, but 
most of them had none, their limbs hanging free 
and a blanket serving for a saddle. Their little 
wiry ponies were under complete control, and 
the riders were good horsemen. It seemed to be 



348 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

some gala occasion with these Blackfeet, but of 
what purport it was impossible to discover. They 
were evidently under a certain degree of disci- 
pline, for at a sharp, sudden command from one 
of their number they all dismounted together and 
stood with one arm over their horses' necks like 
so many stone statues. At that moment a lady 
passenger in our car aimed her " kodak" at them, 
and, presto ! they were photographed in the 
twinkling of an eye, which, considering their aver- 
sion to the process, was quite an achievement on 
the lady's part. These Indians are now peacea- 
ble enough, and no one fears to go among them, 
but we are inclined to think, with "Buffalo Bill," 
that they will make one more desperate fight, in 
both Canada and the States, before they finally 
give up the struggle with the white man. 

Forty miles eastward from Regina we come to 
Indian Head, which is about three hundred miles 
west of Winnipeg, where the road passes through 
the famous Bell Farm, an extremely interesting 
and successful agricultural enterprise. It is man- 
aged by Major Bell, an ex-army officer of marked 
executive ability, and covers an area measuring 
one hundred square miles, being probably the 
largest arable farm in the world. Major Bell car- 
ries on the business for an incorporated company, 
and devotes the rich prairie loam, of which the 
soil is composed, mostly to the raising of wheat, 
employing in the various departments over two 
hundred men. The announced object of the com- 
pany is first to bring the whole of the land under 



WINNIPEG. 349 

good cultivation, at the rate of five thousand acres 
or more annually, and when this is accomplished 
to divide the whole into two hundred and fifty 
farms to be sold to the employees, each provided 
with suitable dwelling-houses and buildings, all to 
be paid for by the purchasers in easy annual in- 
stallments ; a most beneficial purpose, and if it is 
fairly and honorably carried out it will be one 
which is deserving of all praise. It must inevita- 
bly build up a responsible and self-respecting com- 
munity, by uniting proprietorship and domestic 
relations of the most desirable character, connected 
with steady and remunerative occupation. 

The country lying between Indian Head and 
Winnipeg is mostly of a prairie character, rich in 
agricultural resources but of no special interest 
otherwise. Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, 
is very nearly midway between the Atlantic and 
Pacific oceans. It has some twenty -three thou- 
sand inhabitants, who live upon a site which was 
fifteen years ago known as Fort Garry, only a fur- 
trading station, said to be hundreds of miles from 
anywhere. To-day it has long, broad streets of 
public buildings, fine dwelling - houses, hotels, 
stores, banks, and theatres, besides large manu- 
factories in various branches of trade. It is the 
Chicago of Canada. Situated where the forests 
end and the prairies begin, with river navigation 
in all directions, and with railways radiating from 
it towards all points of the compass, everything 
tends to make Winnipeg the commercial metrop- 
olis of the British possessions in the Northwest. 



350 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

Main Street, Winnipeg, is a fine boulevard one 
hundred feet wide and two miles long, lined from 
end to end with attractive buildings. One prac- 
tice observed here recalled the native city of Jey- 
poor, India, namely, the driving of single oxen to 
harness between the shafts of light carts, the ani- 
mal being guided by rope reins attached to the 
horns. 

From Winnipeg to Port Arthur, which is beau- 
tifully situated on the north side of Lake Supe- 
rior, the route is through a country characterized 
by a maze of forests, lakes, and rivers ; a region 
more than half wilderness. Few evidences of civ- 
ilization are found hereabouts ; the primeval for- 
est is full of game, the streams abound in fish, and 
the ponds are covered with wild fowl. Occasion- 
ally a group of Indian wigwams is seen, or a 
lone native Chippeway paddling his birch canoe. 
Now and again a hunter's camp is passed, whose 
occupants come down to the railway to see the 
passing train, and who eagerly seize upon any 
current newspaper which thoughtful passengers 
toss to them from the car windows, a courtesy 
they gratefully acknowledge cap in hand. 

Port Arthur, just one thousand miles from 
Montreal, is admirably situated on Thunder Bay, 
where the view is striking and beautiful, over- 
looked by the bold headland known as Thunder 
Cape, which rises fourteen hundred feet above 
the surface of the lake. Just upon the edge of 
the horizon is seen Silver Islet, which has hereto- 
fore proven to be one of the richest silver mines 



THE DISTANCE TRAVELED. 351 

known to our times ; but the mine is now hope- 
lessly submerged, its tunnels and shafts flooded 
beyond relief by the waters of Lake Superior. 
These broad waters are dotted with white sails, 
and streaked with the long black lines of smoke 
trailing after huge steamers. 

From here, for more than one hundred miles, 
the sharp carves of the great lake on its northern 
shore are closely followed by the Canadian Pacific 
Railway, and here the engineer's skill has been 
wonderfully displayed in surmounting apparent 
impossibilities. We were told that it cost more 
per mile to build this portion of the road than it 
did to lay the rails through an equal distance in 
the difficult passes of the Rocky Mountains. The 
roadway is sometimes cut through solid rock, and 
sometimes an abrupt cliff is tunneled, from whence 
we emerge to leap across a deep ravine upon a 
wooden trestle of frightful curve and great eleva- 
tion. And so we rush onward through unbroken 
forests and scenery of wildest aspect among barren 
rocks, scorched trees, and dense thickets of scrub 
on our homeward way. 

Having thus brought the patient reader so 
nearly back to the starting-point, and among 
scenes so familiar, we leave him to finish the 
journey to Boston by way of Ottawa and Mon- 
treal. 

The distance traveled in making this round 
trip to Alaska and back, over the course pursued 
by the author, is something over ten thousand 
miles, but when successfully consummated it is 



352 THE NEW ELDORADO. 

difficult to realize that such a long route has been 
passed over. Great are the modern facilities for 
travel, and great are the inducements. It is the 
only royal road to learning, the kindergarten of 
ripened intelligence, so to speak. We recall 
nothing of the fatigue or the inevitable mishaps 
of the journey. It is the charming experiences 
alone which become indelible. We behold again 
the many populous cities through which the route 
has taken us, and see once more in imagination 
the active villages, peculiar races of people, graz- 
ing herds, rushing cascades, sombre gorges, mys- 
terious geysers, snowy mountain ranges, uncouth 
totem-poles, myriads of icebergs, and mammoth 
glaciers. To look back upon the experiences of 
the journey as a whole is like recalling a midsum- 
mer night's dream, replete with delightful scenery 
and crowded with wonderful phenomena. 



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